Ecological Pyramid
The mass and energy of each link of a food chain by the 10% rule and the share of energy passed to the next level.
The ecological pyramid calculator solves 10% rule problems: it finds the mass or energy of each link of a food chain from one known link and draws the pyramid. The second mode finds what share of energy passed to the next trophic level.
The rule of the ecological pyramid
Only about 10% of the mass (energy) of a level passes to the next level of the food chain — Lindeman's rule. The rest goes to respiration and movement, is lost as heat or is not digested.
- Up the chain — multiply by 0.1.
- Down the chain — divide by 0.1 (multiply by 10).
Example. Chain: phytoplankton → zooplankton → fish → seal → polar bear. For a polar bear to gain 500 kg, it takes 5,000 kg of seals, 50 t of fish, 500 t of zooplankton and 5,000 t of phytoplankton.
Links of a food chain
| Level | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | producers | plants, algae |
| 2 | primary consumers | herbivores |
| 3 and up | secondary, tertiary consumers | predators |
If the problem uses another share (for example 20%), enter it in the “Share passed to the next level” field.
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