A small standing crop of phytoplankton supports a large standing crop of zooplankton. This can be correctly represented by:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Inverted pyramid of biomass
The pyramid of biomass in sea is generally inverted because the biomass of fishes far exceeds that of phytoplankton.The producers are smallest organisms while carnivores are large in size. Consequently , there is a gradual increase in biomass of organisms at successive trophic levels from producers onwards to top carnivores resulting in inverted pyramid. Thus, the biomass of phytoplanktons will be smaller than that of zooplanktons; the biomass of zooplanktons will be lesser than of primary carnivores ( e.g., small fishes).
The inverted pyramid of biomass-small standing crop of phytoplankton supports large standing crop of zooplankton.