Concept of energy pyramid: The narrow apex of the three-dimensional structure based on its triangular base is called a pyramid. The structure of tropic levels in an ecosystem is shown with the structure of a pyramid. The chart, describing the arrangement of energy storage and transfer of every nutrition level, connected to food chain, is called energy pyramid. The amount of energy is much higher in the level of producers than that of the next tropic levels. The organisms of higher tropic level than those of lower tropic level lose more energy at an ever increasing rate for respiration and other activities. This is why the producers and the top most consumers are placed on the base and at the top of the pyramid respectively. Effects of energy pyramid to keep food chain in limit. The flow of energy is always unidirectional. This energy flaw can never be turned opposite. About 80% to 90% energy is reduced in every stage. The ever-increasing loss of energy limits the size of a food chain within 4 to 5 stages. The more a food chain is long the more energy would be reduced in higher tropic level and at one stage there would be remain no energy. Biodiversity The environment of our planet is composed of animate and inanimate substances. Here is the assemblage of many types of organisms and innumerable kinds of inanimate substances. How many types of organisms are there in the world? It is too tough to give the exact figure of it but on account of species (who are similar to each other in physical and reproductive characters and originate from the same ancestor) this can be much easier to present. Until now, it has become possible to describe and identify 15 lakhs species. Every species is characterized with its own unique features and is different and identifiable from all other species by these very characters. For instance, jackfruit is a species, and it is possible to separate it from other species by its special characters. It has become possible to group the living world into millions of species because of the existing diversity in the organisms. Again, human being is a species. At present about seven hundred crores of human beings live on the Earth. They are all not exactly the same and are different from each other in some characters. So, diversity is there even among the members of the same species. Briefly, to say it can be said that biodiversity is the abundance and variability among organisms existing on the earth. Types of biodiversity Biodiversity can be divided into three categories. Such as (1) species diversity, (2) genetic diversity and (3) ecosystem diversity. Species diversity: Species diversity generally means the total number of organisms existing on the earth because a species is different from other species by its distinctive characters. Such as, a deer is distinct from a tiger in size, habit, ferocity, number, mode of multiplication etc. The difference in different issues of a species from other species is species diversity.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 16:04:49 +0000
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