What does an energy pyramid represent?

An energy pyramid represents the flow of energy through different trophic levels in an ecosystem, illustrating how energy from the sun is converted into food energy and passed along the food chain. In this pyramid, each level corresponds to a specific group of organisms: producers at the base, followed by primary consumers, secondary consumers, and so forth.

As energy is transferred from one level to the next, it diminishes, commonly following the 10% rule, where about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is available to the next. This concept not only emphasizes how energy decreases at higher trophic levels but also highlights the reliance of all organisms on energy initially captured by producers, such as plants and phytoplankton, through photosynthesis. Hence, the pyramid effectively displays the sun's energy as it becomes increasingly less available to higher levels of consumers, making it a crucial model for understanding energy dynamics in ecosystems.