Which is a correct statement with respect to the ecological pyramid ?

The correct answer is Option (2) → An organism may occupy more than one trophic level simultaneously.

Option (1) Trophic level represents a species. — Incorrect. A trophic level represents a functional level (producer, herbivore, carnivore), not a species.

Option (2) An organism may occupy more than one trophic level simultaneously. — Correct. A sparrow is a primary consumer when it eats seeds and a secondary consumer when it eats insects.

Option (3) Pyramid of energy is never upright. — Incorrect. This is reversed: the pyramid of energy is always upright.

Option (4) The base of each pyramid is always broad. — Incorrect. Some pyramids are inverted, such as the pyramid of biomass in the sea and the pyramid of numbers on a single tree.

Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 13-06-2023 (Slot 3).

NCERT Extract:
Energy Flow – “… Organisms occupy a place in the natural surroundings or in a community according to their feeding relationship with other organisms. Based on the source of their nutrition or food, organisms occupy a specific place in the food chain that is known as their trophic level. Producers belong to the first trophic level, herbivores (primary consumer) to the second and carnivores (secondary consumer) to the third (Figure 12.2).”