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Evaluation · Q11

Q.The following diagram represents
[A pyramid diagram with four labelled trophic levels T1, T2, T3, T4, printed in the source without the shape/outline of the pyramid itself being recoverable from the extracted text — only the level labels survive.]

a) pyramid of number in a grassland ecosystem
b) pyramid of number in a pond ecosystem
c) pyramid of number in a forest ecosystem
d) pyramid of biomass in a pond ecosystem
An upright, broad-based four-tier pyramid diagram (labelled T1 at the base to T4 at the apex), each tier drawn using terrestrial-organism — Class 12 Biology question
Figure
Tamil Nadu DgeTextbookSubjectiveImportance★★★★★
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Step 1. Read the trophic levels from the figure. T1 (base) shows a single tree — the producer. T2 shows several herbivore species together (elephant, small birds, deer) — the primary consumers. T3 shows fewer organisms, a wolf and a snake — the secondary consumers (carnivores that feed on herbivores). T4 (apex) shows just one organism, a lion — the tertiary consumer / top carnivore.

Step 2. Note the overall shape. The pyramid is upright: broad at the base and narrowing steadily toward the apex, meaning the NUMBER of individual organisms falls sharply at each successive trophic level. This is what a pyramid of NUMBER depicts (a count of organisms per trophic level), not a pyramid of biomass (which plots total mass) or of energy.

Step 3. Match the organisms to a habitat/ecosystem type. Every organism shown — tree, elephant, deer, birds, wolf, snake, lion — is terrestrial, consistent with an open grassland/savanna food chain (grass/tree → grazing herbivores → carnivores → top carnivore). None of them are aquatic organisms such as phytoplankton, zooplankton or fish, so a pond ecosystem is ruled out. …

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