What is the essence of the ecological pyramid rule? Fundamentals of Ecology

What is the essence of the ecological pyramid rule, and also its significance in the development of species? This is a very interesting question, in which you need to understand, if you need to calculate how many certain living organisms can withstand a certain area. So what is the essence of the ecological pyramid rule?

general information

What is the essence of the ecological pyramid rule and what does it represent? Initially, it is necessary to designate what certain models are called, which can be represented graphically (as triangles). They reflect the numerical characteristics of individuals of certain species, the amount of biomass they possess, or the energy at a certain trophic level. The peculiarity of this approach is that all indicators fall as one rises higher on the triangle. Thus, it is possible to judge how many individuals of a certain species can exist on a certain territory. There are three main types of ecological pyramids. They differ on the basis, which is taken as a systemic factor. So what is the essence of the ecological pyramid rule for each of them? We will now talk about this.

Pyramid of numbers

It is aimed at reflecting the number of individual organisms that occupy a certain level. Speaking about the essence of the ecological pyramid rule, it should be noted that this approach is used quite rarely because a large number of individuals at trophic levels complicate the mapping of the biocenosis structure within a single scale.

In order to better understand it, let's look at one example. Suppose we have a pyramid. At its base is one thousand tons of grass. All this mass is hundreds of millions or even billions of grass. They serve as food for grasshoppers. Using this amount of grass, fifteen million insects can feed. They, in turn, go to feed for fifty thousand frogs. This number of amphibians is sufficient to maintain a population of three hundred trout in the pond. If a person has only fish available for consumption, then this will be enough for him to live only one year. That's what the rule of the ecological pyramid is. What is the essence? The fact that the size of the base and the top varies in the most significant way. What is one thousand tons of grass? If the author did not lose the opportunity to count, then this is a million kilograms. In practice, it is often possible to note exceptions from this approach. So, there is a tree. It is inhabited by parasitic insects. And they are already consumed by certain species of birds. In such cases, the number pyramid will look like a yule. Let's move on to the next model.

Pyramid of biomass

In this case, the ratio between producers and consumers is sought, based on the mass (energy content, total dry weight, etc.). In cases where the organisms are similar in size, then at the output when composing a step pyramid is obtained , in which the tip narrows. It is possible to draw parallels with the productivity of functioning.

So, consider a large field. The greatest mass will be here in plants that are producers. Then there are consumers of the first order. As an example, you can consider ungulates. They are followed by primary carnivores, or second-order consuments. And so on. At the same time, the higher we climb in this way, the less weight of a living organism per square meter will be. Here, for example, a lion - a predator strong and dangerous. But here's another try to find somewhere in the shroud! And as a result, its mass will be many times lower than the indicators of the weight of grass per one square meter. This rule applies almost without exception to terrestrial animals.

But in the water habitats of living organisms, one can also find an inverted (inverted) pyramid of biomass. In such cases, producers weigh less than consumers, or even less than decomposers. In the grounds are animals, not plants. How does this look in reality? There are such living organisms as phytoplankton. Its total mass is often lower than that of zooplankton and end-users like mollusks, large fish and whales. But this is more than offset by high productivity.

Pyramid of energy

This is the last, already the third model. It reflects the magnitude of the energy flow in the form of the velocity of the mass passing through the food chain. It is based on very interesting statements. So, on the structure of biocoenosis with this approach, the greatest influence is not the fixed amount of energy, but the speed of food creation. What does the general rule of the ecological pyramid look like? What is the essence? In the base there should be green plants. And when there is a movement to the top, then the amount of energy that is naturally absorbed naturally decreases. Here the rule is ten percent. That is, the next level is only 10% of the energy that is on it. The general pattern in this case is that the higher we rise, the less amount of energy we see. Due to this, large predators are so rare. Therefore, there are no those who feed on wolves or lions, since they are few in number.

Specificity

Of course, the information presented displays only the general picture. And you do not need to approach absolutely everything with one measure. Each model has its own specific use, more detailed acquaintance with which requires a completely different format than the article. The most attention should be paid to the energy pyramid, since the rule of ten percent is used here only as an alleviating and generalizing moment.

Conclusion

So this article comes to an end, in which an important modeling tool was considered. Now, if you get the question: "What is the essence of the rule of the ecological pyramid, determine" - this will not cause a hitch, but you can immediately tell what it is. Thanks to such models in the future it will be possible to successfully colonize other planets, study various space systems and do a lot of other things. After all, in this case, we can calculate how many people can live in a certain territory at a certain stage of settlement.