Energy Flow in the

Environment

Food Pyramid

Definition:

The food pyramid is designed to make healthy eating

easier. Healthy eating is about getting the correct amount
of nutrients protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and
minerals you need to maintain good health.

Foods that contain the same type of nutrients are grouped

together on each of the shelves of the Food Pyramid. This
gives you a choice of different foods from which to choose a
healthy diet.

Following the Food Pyramid as a guide will help you get the
right balance of nutritious foods within your calorie range.
Studies show that we take in too many calories from foods
and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt, on the top shelf of the
Food Pyramid. They provide very little of the essential
vitamins and minerals your body needs. Limiting these is
essential for healthy eating.

Healthy eating involves:

Breads, rice, potatoes, pasta and cereals

Fruits and vegetables
Some milk, cheese and sugar
Some meat, poultry, eggs, beans and
nuts
Small amount of fats and oils
A very small amount or no food and
drinks high in fat, sugar and salts

Transfer of energy
The transfer of matter and energy in food from one trophic
level to another is not efficient. Biomass is the total mass of
organisms in a food chain or a food web. This is due to
several
reasons:
Not all plants and animals are eaten by organisms
Some parts of plants or animals are not edible
Only about 10% of biomass and energy is transferred
to the next because much of the energy is lost when it
is transferred to the next.
This relationship between producers and consumers can be
depicted through an energy pyramid and a biomass
pyramid.

Energy Pyramid

Definition:

Anecological pyramid(alsotrophic pyramidorenergy

pyramid) is a graphical representation designed to show
thebiomassorbiomass productivity at eachtrophic levelin
a givenecosystem.

Ecological pyramids begin withproducerson the bottom

(such as plants) and proceed through the various trophic
levels (such as herbivores that eat plants, then carnivores
that eat herbivores, then carnivores that eat those
carnivores, and so on). The highest level is thetopof
thefood chain.

The different levels represent different groups of

organisms that might compose a food chain. From the
bottom-up, they are as follows:

Producers bring energy from nonliving

sources into the community
Primary consumers eat the producers,
which makes them herbivores in most
communities
Secondary consumers eat the primary
consumers, which makes them carnivores
Tertiary consumers eat the secondary
consumers

An energy pyramids shape shows how the amount of useful

energy that enters each level chemical energy in the form of
food decreases as it is used by the organisms in that level.
The consequence is that even though a lot of energy may be
taken in at any level, the energy that ends up being stored there
which is the food available to the next level is far less.
Scientists have calculated that an average of 90% of the energy
entering each step of the food chain is lost this way (although
the total amount in the system remains unchanged).
The consumers at the top of a food pyramid, as a group, thus
have much less energy available to support them than those
closer to the bottom. Thats why their numbers are relatively
few in most communities. Eventually, the amount of useful
energy left cant support another level. Thats why energy flow
is depicted in the shape of a pyramid. The energy that enters a
community is ultimately lost to the living world as heat.

Biomass Pyramid

Definition:

Anbiomass pyramidshows the relationship between

biomass and trophic level by quantifying the amount of
biomass present at each trophic level of anecological
communityat a particular moment in time.

It is a graphical representation of biomass (total amount of

living or organic matter in an ecosystem) present in unit
area in different tropic levels. Typical units for a biomass
pyramid could be grams per meter2, or calories per meter2.

Their energy capacity is usually concentrated at the base, which is

represented as being wide and decreases as one move up to the
apex. The pyramid is used as a manner of clarifying the movement
of the biomass as well as the energy through the ecosystem.
The manner of Pyramid ofBiomassrepresentation is based on the
thermodynamics.
The law states that energy can never be destroyed and neither
can it be created.
It means that energy can only be transferred from one form to
another.
The pyramid represents the animals that eat plants, then those
that eat the grass eating animals and then those that eat the
animals feeding on other animals. The last step is the
decomposers. The energy is hence transferred through the chain
and converted in the biomass.

The pyramid of biomass may be 'inverted'. For example, in a pond

ecosystem, thestanding crop ofphytoplankton ,the majorproducers, at
any given point will be lower than the mass of theheterotrophs, such as
fish and insects. This is explained as the phytoplanktons reproducevery
quickly, but have much shorter individual lives.
One problem with biomass pyramids is that they can make a trophic
level look like it contains moreenergythan it actually does. For
example, allbirdshavebeaksandskele-tons, which despite taking
upmassare not eaten by the next trophic level. In apyramid of
biomassthe skeletons and beaks would still be quantified even though
they do not contribute to the overall large flow of energy.

Thats All..
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