Ecological Pyramid Types

The ecological pyramid is of three types; the pyramid of numbers, the pyramid of biomass, and the pyramid of energy.

Pyramid of Number

The Pyramid of Number denotes the total number of living individuals at various trophic levels in an ecological system. The producers are at the base and top carnivores at the topmost level in this pyramid.

The pyramid of numbers can be both upright and inverted.

• The upright pyramid has the largest number of producers at the base and their numbers keep on declining with each passing level like pond or grassland ecosystem.
• In the inverted pyramid, the base pointed with a lesser number of producers whereas the topmost level will have the largest number of individuals as the size and food consumption of organisms in each level will decrease i.e. in this system one individual producer can support many primary consumers, similarly, one primary consumer can support many secondary consumers, and so on. This type of pyramid is seen in the case of a parasitic food chain.

Pyramid of Biomass

The ecological pyramid that is made by considering the amount of biomass that is produced by the living system of each trophic level is represented by the pyramid of biomass. The pyramid that demonstrates the total weight of every trophic level in a specific food chain in an ecosystem is the biomass pyramid.

Like the pyramid of numbers, the pyramid of biomass can be both upright and inverted.

• Forests and grasslands ecological systems are instances of upstanding biomass pyramids as the number of producers is more in number.
• The ocean ecosystem is an example of an inverted pyramid as a large number of zooplankton are dependent on a lesser number of phytoplankton. Dependent on the trophic level of an ecosystem, only 15% to 20% of biomass per level goes to the following level. 

Pyramid of Energy

The ecological pyramid which is formed by determining the flow of energy from one trophic level to another is known as the pyramid of energy. The producers situated at the base of the pyramid of energy have the highest amount of energy and the topmost consumer at the top has the least amount of energy. 

The pyramid of energy is always upright. This pyramid addresses the complete energy content of each trophic level in an ecological system.

• The base of this pyramid i.e. producers has the most amount of energy acquired from the sun fixed by the help of photosynthesis.
• The flow of energy in this pyramid proves that energy can neither be created nor can be destroyed given by the law of thermodynamics.
• However, as indicated by Lindeman’s 10% regulation law, only 10% of the energy gets transferred from one level to another as almost the 90% is lost as heat energy is used in breathing, some are utilized in physiological cycles, and the rest is utilized by decomposers.

An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation of the relationship that every living creature present at different levels of the ecosystem shares with each other. Ecological Pyramids represent the different forms of bio-productivity of an ecosystem i.e. how much biomass, energy, or number of individuals each trophic level accounts for. In this article, we will learn about the ecological pyramid types, their significance, and limitations.