A graphic aid to a healthy diet. The foodstuffs at the bottom of the pyramid are encouraged as being low calorie - high volume, and at the top; foods are placed that should not be consumed often, they being high calorie - low volume foods.
a way of expressing the availability of food in an ecosystem at a successive number of trophic levels.
a graphic representation of food chain relationships in which organisms are arranged by trophic or feeding levels; producers form the base and each successive level contributes to the tiers which form the apex, or highest point (Carnivores, such as the Timber Rattlesnake, are frequently at the "top" of a food pyramid
estimate of energy available at each feeding level shown in pyramid diagram. The energy amount is measured by weighing plants and animals at each level.
(ecology) a hierarchy of food chains with the principle predator at the top; each level preys on the level below
a description of the masses of plants, herbivores, and predators
a pyramid representing trends in food consumption, with the lowest level (primary producers) having the greatest total biomass, and the higher consumer levels having successively less total biomass.
The quantitative relationship of organisms in a food chain. Thousands of organisms are needed at the bottom of the food chain for the eventual support of one animal at the top, due to energy lost in each conversion.
compares the living weight of each level in an ecosystem (see food chain)
a quantitative representation of a food chain in which the producers form the base and the carnivores form the apex
pyramid-shaped diagram which shows feeding relationships within a food chain, e.g. that herbivores are smaller, more numerous and faster breeding than the predators that feed on them.
The normally diminishing number of individuals and amount of organic material produced at each successive level along a food chain. The declining productivity at each level results from the con-stant loss of energy in metabolism as the energy passes along the chain. See also Trophic level
A succession of organisms that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another, e.g., producers (plants) to herbivores to carnivores, as each consumes a lower member and in turn is preyed upon by a higher member.
This concept of a pyramid of consumers in an ecosystem is very useful in understanding how an organism fits into a community as a whole. For example, bears and other large mammals are typically at the very top of the food pyramid since they do not have any natural predators (except humans). On the contrary, butterflies feed on plants, making them primary consumers quite low in a food pyramid.
provides a visual idea for a healthy diet. Foods on the bottom (low calorie-high volume) are emphasized and food on the top (high calorie-low volume) should be eaten sparingly.
is a diagram which shows the feeding relationships in an ecosystem with photosynthesizers at the base and omnivores at the top
A way of depicting energy flow in an ecosystem; shows producers (mostly plants or other phototrophs) on the first level and consumers on the higher levels.
A chart, drawn in the shape of a pyramid, summarizing the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) daily nutritional recommendations.