Question

2.3 review

1. sequence list the types of organisms in order from the top to the bottom of an ecological pyramid.

• tertiary consumer
• producer
• primary consumer
• secondary consumer

1. explain why is less energy available to organisms higher in an energy pyramid than is available to organisms at the base of an energy pyramid?
2. predict how might a fire affect the shape of a forest ecosystems biomass pyramid?
3. represent data build an energy pyramid using the data in the table.

species\tenergy (joules)
a\t4,982,000
b\t5200
c\t500,738
d\t47,033

1. identify in your model, label each species with its ecological role in the ecosystem.

Explanation:

1.

In an ecological pyramid, energy and biomass flow from producers at the base to higher - level consumers. Tertiary consumers are at the top, followed by secondary consumers, primary consumers, and producers at the bottom.

Energy transfer between trophic levels is inefficient. Only about 10 - 20% of the energy is passed on from one level to the next. So, higher - level organisms have less energy available as most of the energy is lost as heat during metabolic processes in lower - level organisms.

A fire can reduce the biomass of plants (producers) at the base of the biomass pyramid. This would decrease the biomass available for primary consumers, and subsequently for secondary and tertiary consumers, potentially making the pyramid narrower at the base and overall less voluminous.

Answer:

Tertiary consumer, secondary consumer, primary consumer, producer

2.