Ecological pyramids
Stack the levels of a food chain on top of each other, producers at the bottom, and you get a pyramid: each level passes on only about a tenth of its energy to the level above, because most of what an animal eats is used up living and lost as heat. So 10,000 kg of grass can feed about 1,000 kg of plant-eaters, 100 kg of meat-eaters and 10 kg of the meat-eaters that eat them. Poisons that don't break down go the other way: they build up at each level, so animals at the top carry the most.
Depth 1 · Foundation
You can draw the energy pyramid of a food chain, use the rule of about one tenth to work out each level, and explain why poisons build up at the top.
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Foundation
You can draw the energy pyramid of a food chain, use the rule of about one tenth to work out each level, and explain why poisons build up at the top.
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