food pyramids

• Energy transferred to next level / total energy in * 100 
• efficiency = Biomass passed on / total biomass * 100
• Pyramid of biomass:

  • Pyramid which shows the biomass
  • (number of individuals × their individual mass)

  
• Pyramid of numbers:

  • Shows number of each organism in a food chain
  • When moving up pyramid, number of individuals’ decreases

  
• Food chains usually have fewer than five trophic levels, because energy transfer is inefficient
• Trophic level: position of an organism in a food chain, food web or pyramid of biomass, numbers or energy

  • Primary consumer: eat vegetables
  • Secondary consumer: eat meat/drink milk
  • Tertiary consumer: eat a predatory fish, salmon
• Decomposer: an organism that gets its energy from dead or waste organic matter
• Consumer: an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms
• Producer: an organism that makes its own organic nutrients, usually using energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis