Environment

<ul style="padding-left:25px;"><li>Trophic level represents energy flow in an ecosystem. A trophic level is a position occupied by an organism in a food chain.</li><li>Unidirectional Energy Flow: Energy in an ecosystem flows in a unidirectional manner, typically from the lower trophic levels to the higher ones. This means that energy is transferred from producers (plants or autotrophs) to consumers (herbivores, carnivores, etc.) and rarely moves in the opposite direction.</li><li>Energy Loss in Trophic Levels: At each trophic level, there is a significant loss of energy, primarily in the form of heat, during the process of metabolism and other life activities. This is often represented by the ecological pyramid, where the energy decreases as you move up the trophic levels</li><li>The Lindeman’s 10 Percent Law: Lindeman’s 10 percent law, proposed by ecologist Raymond Lindeman, states that only about 10 percent of the energy available at one trophic level is transferred to the next trophic level in an ecosystem.</li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/9058504caee1f0b6d1ded810dc599fb2.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/0bce665903bc1486bae8e8b57c286901.png 205w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/880dd67e20289aef679ace01c56eed4a.png 500w" sizes="100vw" width="500"></figure>&nbsp;Trophic level interaction&nbsp;The trophic level interaction involves three concepts, namely:<ul><li>Food Chain</li><li>Food Web</li><li>Ecological Pyramids</li></ul>&nbsp;Food ChainA food chain represents the feeding relationships in an ecosystem, describing how energy and nutrients flow from one organism to another. It shows “who eats whom” in a linear sequence.<figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/d4ecdc3577a306916b158e78e1085c56.jpg" alt="e6.jpg" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/925e67e1fd70d0950f72b792b02ba5d8.jpg 245w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/c821c56261b690ca2636ea34cff91800.jpg 500w" sizes="100vw" width="500"></figure>&nbsp;Types of Food Chains&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/d588c5ca799a264d8b92826267181934.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/7275895a5bfdaec5dbfe6cba8ab0a1b9.png 245w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/07de7b4ecd31fc965eda7071f577ec8f.png 500w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/e9b409f39b7b2587434e33ae8d2551e9.png 750w" sizes="100vw" width="750"></figure><ul style="padding-left:25px;"><li>On Earth, the grazing food chain is dominant in the marine ecosystem.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul style="padding-left:25px;"><li>In the terrestrial ecosystem, the detritus food chain is more dominant.</li></ul>&nbsp;<ul style="padding-left:25px;"><li>Honey Bees perform a waggle dance for others of their kin to indicate the direction and the distance to a source of their food.</li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;Food WebA food web refers to the complex network of feeding relationships among various organisms in an ecosystem,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; depicting multiple interconnected food chains.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:480/436;" src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/a1ae43476c53405873b8435fbc5b6534.jpg" alt="e7.jpg" width="480" height="436"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;Types of Biotic Interactions in a Food Web&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/e700847fcd313406a3e7fff9083dae65.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/e592f0fa7ea59a8b94d5c462c823624b.png 202w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/04c27d4bfe1694f6aee36ffc226d8a34.png 500w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/86ea6b1d71b577ed92cf5886a5277fb0.png 750w" sizes="100vw" width="750"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;Ecological Pyramids &nbsp;Graphical presentation of the relationship between various trophic levels. Horizontal bars depict specific trophic levels, with the length of the bar indicating the total number of individuals, biomass, or energy at each trophic level.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Categories of Ecological Pyramids&nbsp;<ul style="padding-left:24px;"><li>Pyramid of Numbers: Represents the number of individuals at each trophic level. Generally, numbers decrease as you move up the pyramid.</li></ul>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:310/286;" src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/fad68c7619a434a99471d3ff040826e3.png" alt="image.png" width="310" height="286"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul style="padding-left:24px;"><li>Pyramid of Biomass: Depicts total biomass (dry weight)&nbsp;of organisms at each trophic level. Generally, biomass decreases as you move up due to energy loss.</li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/d471a1ed17ce9513830d3bfd6f722efd.png" alt="e8.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/c7393afffc6cf1c51b174d67d17c20cf.png 243w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/4cdcc477d755a8d27f9e5e628ded348c.png 500w" sizes="100vw" width="500"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul style="padding-left:24px;"><li>Pyramid of Energy or Productivity: Represents energy flow through trophic levels. Generally, energy availability decreases moving up the pyramid, hence the pyramid is always upward</li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/84e78e211484c2b78c22c74a1c62d384.png" alt="e9.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/564f157d857e3b51407735f787ca594e.png 223w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/8cecf999d2ebd50a1009f7890d4f9d54.png 500w" sizes="100vw" width="500"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/f178fe23b595ad4443323bc738b8a1ce.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/7cc6eaf0185f935f516af4fce7c2fb15.png 245w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/a713727ba9d07ab5ae0e0e115547264d.png 500w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/fdcdf93e67df31879498271d33fef565.png 750w" sizes="100vw" width="750"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;Inverted Aquatic Biomass Pyramid: In aquatic ecosystems, the biomass pyramid is often inverted because phytoplankton, the primary producers, have a low standing biomass due to their rapid turnover, despite their high production rates. This allows for a larger biomass of primary and secondary consumers, such as zooplankton and fish, to be supported. The efficient energy transfer from small producers to large consumers contributes to the inverted pyramid structure.&nbsp;Inverted Detritus Pyramid of Numbers: The detritus pyramid of numbers can be inverted because large, slowly decomposing detritus (like fallen trees) can support a large number of smaller detritivores. Although the biomass of detritivores is low, their numbers can be much higher than the biomass of the detritus, leading to an inverted pyramid where fewer large detritus items support many smaller decomposers.&nbsp;&nbsp;MOVEMENT OF NON DEGRADABLE POLLUTANTS IN ECOSYSTEMS&nbsp;Non-degradable pollutants (persistent pollutants) cannot be easily broken down by detritivores. For instance, Chlorinated Hydrocarbons (Perfluoro Chlorides) are particularly damaging and long-lasting. The movement of these pollutants involves: Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification.&nbsp;&nbsp;Bioaccumulation Vs Biomagnification<figure class="image"><img src="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/2b367742de16ae354670628a55107c62.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/16edb9e5c8b07bb8840e954ca2b1ef97.png 245w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/8514551cd6426af917520d707d6c3592.png 500w, https://punjab-adhikari.blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/328a982a3a53991e1062f47c691ffcca.png 750w" sizes="100vw" width="750"></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;