Which of the following best explains why energy transfer in a food web is described as a pyramid?

Question

a
There are more producers than consumers in an ecosystem.
b
Energy is lost at each trophic level, with less energy available to organisms higher up in the pyramid.
c
The shape of the pyramid represents the physical structure of ecosystems.

Answer 1

The best explanation for why energy transfer in a food web is described as a pyramid is:

b. Energy is lost at each trophic level, with less energy available to organisms higher up in the pyramid.

This reflects the concept that as energy moves through the food web, typically about 90% of the energy is lost as heat or used for metabolic processes at each trophic level, resulting in less energy available for the higher trophic levels, which is why the structure is typically represented as a pyramid.