Pyramid of which of the following is inverted?
(A) The pyramid of biomass in sea
(B) The pyramid of numbers in grassland
(C) The pyramid of biomass in terrestrial food chain
(D) The pyramid of number of insects feeding on a big tree
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A) and (D) only
(A) The pyramid of biomass in sea — True. The biomass of fishes is far more than that of phytoplankton.
(B) The pyramid of numbers in grassland — False. It is upright.
(C) The pyramid of biomass in terrestrial food chain — False. It is upright.
(D) The pyramid of number of insects feeding on a big tree — True. One tree supports many insects.
NCERT Extract:
Ecological Pyramids – “… In most ecosystems, all the pyramids, of number, of energy and biomass are upright, i.e., producers are more in number and biomass than the herbivores, and herbivores are more in number and biomass than the carnivores. Also energy at a lower trophic level is always more than at a higher level. There are exceptions to this generalisation: … The pyramid of biomass in sea is generally inverted because the biomass of fishes far exceeds that of phytoplankton.”