If the number of producers in a pond ecosystem is approx 10 million th...
In a food chain, number of organisms reduce from producer to carnivores at each trophic levels. So, the number of carnivores will be less than the prouder which is less than 10 million.
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If the number of producers in a pond ecosystem is approx 10 million th...
The answer to this question can be determined by understanding the concept of energy transfer through trophic levels in an ecosystem.
1. Trophic Levels in an Ecosystem:
- An ecosystem is a community of living organisms and their interactions with the abiotic environment.
- Within an ecosystem, organisms are organized into trophic levels based on their feeding relationships.
- The trophic levels include producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and top carnivores.
2. Producers:
- Producers, also known as autotrophs, are organisms that can produce their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.
- They convert sunlight energy or chemical energy into organic compounds that can be utilized by other organisms.
- In a pond ecosystem, examples of producers include algae, aquatic plants, and phytoplankton.
3. Energy Transfer:
- Energy flows through an ecosystem in a unidirectional manner, from producers to consumers.
- As energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, it decreases, resulting in less energy available for higher trophic levels.
- This is known as the 10% rule, which states that only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next.
4. Top Carnivores:
- Top carnivores, also known as tertiary consumers, are organisms that occupy the highest trophic level in an ecosystem.
- They feed on other consumers, including secondary consumers and sometimes primary consumers.
- Examples of top carnivores in a pond ecosystem may include large fish, birds of prey, or amphibians.
5. Applying the 10% Rule:
- The 10% rule allows us to estimate the number of top carnivores that can be supported by a given number of producers.
- If there are 10 million producers in the pond ecosystem, only about 10% of the energy produced by them will be transferred to the next trophic level.
- Therefore, the number of primary consumers (10% of 10 million) would be approximately 1 million.
- Similarly, the number of secondary consumers (10% of 1 million) would be approximately 100,000.
- Finally, the number of top carnivores (10% of 100,000) would be approximately 10,000.
6. Conclusion:
- Based on the application of the 10% rule, the number of top carnivores that the pond ecosystem can support is approximately 10,000 (in thousands), which corresponds to 10 million in the given options.
- Therefore, the correct answer is option 'B', which states that the pond ecosystem can support 2 million top carnivores.
If the number of producers in a pond ecosystem is approx 10 million th...
But in pond ecosystem, the pyramid of number is inverted right.
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