Why top carnivores are found less in number in any food chain in the ecosystem and why must there be more herbivores than carnivores in a stable ecosystem?
Hello Rk; Here is a classic book that goes directly to your question.
Colinvaux, P. 1979. Why big fierce animals are rare: an ecologist's perspective. Princeton Univ Press.
The straighforward answer is that energy transfers (carnivores eat herbivores) are energetically quite inefficient...perhaps as little as 5% of the endothermic herbivore that is eaten is converted into endothermic carnivore biomass. As a result the carnivores are relatively rarer than the herbivores. Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers
There are less carnivores than herbivores in any chain food for a simple rule:
a. the top carnivores are bigger than other aninals, so they need to eat a great amount of food.
b.great amount of food is found in herbivores.
c.there are more herbivores because the flora is more abundant and this last one is dominant in some terrestrial ecosystem; meanwhile in the oceanic ecosystem the vegetation is poor or scarse.
d.so,all this done an equilibrium an ecosystem.
The number of carnivores found at the top of an ecological pyramid is limited by D) amount of energy transferred to the top carnivores. The higher the trophic level, the less amount of energy is available for those in the higher trophic level. There is less number of organisms at the top of the pyramid because there is very little food left for secondary consumers compared to the primary consumers. Similarly, there are fewer consumers than producers. There are less number of organisms at the top of the pyramid because there is very little food left for secondary consumers compared to the primary consumers. Similarly, there are fewer consumers than producers.There is less number of organisms at the top of the pyramid because there is very little food left for secondary consumers compared to the primary consumers. Similarly, there are fewer consumers than producers. There are more herbivores than carnivores in a food chain because. (i) Much energy is lost in the transfer of energy from herbivores to carnivores. (ii) A larger number of herbivores is needed to support a smaller number of carnivores. (iii) This is the way for the food chain to stay in the equilibrium. Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level are consumed by organisms from the next level. There are more herbivores than carnivores. An ecosystem cannot support a large number of omnivores without supporting an even larger number of herbivores, and an even larger number of autotrophs. A healthy food web has an abundance of autotrophs, many herbivores, and relatively few carnivores and omnivores.Because carnivores eat herbivores for energy, rather than eating the plants directly, they require close to 10x more plant mass at the base to support them. Fewer organisms can be supported as you move up the pyramid due to higher energy requirements and not enough prey to sustain a large population.
Carnivores depend on energy of lower trophic level in an ecosystem and there is decrease in energy in every trophic level due to conversion starting from producer.
There are more herbivores than carnivores in a food chain because. (i) Much energy is lost in the transfer of energy from herbivores to carnivores. (ii) A larger number of herbivores are needed to support a smaller number of carnivores. (iii) This is the way for the food chain to stay in the equilibrium. There are more herbivores than carnivores. An ecosystem cannot support a large number of omnivores without supporting an even larger number of herbivores, and an even larger number of autotrophs. A healthy food web has an abundance of autotrophs, many herbivores, and relatively few carnivores and omnivores.Because carnivores eat herbivores for energy, rather than eating the plants directly, they require close to 10x more plant mass at the base to support them. Fewer organisms can be supported as you move up the pyramid due to higher energy requirements and not enough prey to sustain a large population. Therefore, the energy transfer from one trophic level to the next, up the food chain, is like a pyramid; wider at the base and narrower at the top. Because of this inefficiency, there is only enough food for a few top level consumers, but there is lots of food for herbivores lower down on the food chain. Carnivores are at a higher trophic level than Herbivores, and producers are at a lower trophic level than Herbivores. At each successive trophic level, only 10% of the energy is passed.Carnivores have higher consumption efficiency than herbivores, since more of their food source is consumed than enters into the detrital food chain. Because the energy that transfers up to each level is only 10% of what was available for the level below, it cannot support very large number organisms in the next trophic level. By the time you get to the top carnivores there is very little energy left and that supports a smaller number of organisms.The number of carnivores found at the top of an ecological pyramid is limited by D) amount of energy transferred to the top carnivores. The higher the trophic level, the less amount of energy is available for those in the higher trophic level. Only ten percent of energy stored in organic matter at each trophic level is actually converted to organic matter at the next trophic level. This keeps trophic structures in check and limits the abundance of predatory organisms at the top of the trophic structure.