In an ecosystem, which diagram shows the distribution of energy among trophic levels?

• A. Food web
• B. Food chain
• C. Energy pyramid
• D. Trophic level

Answer: (C)

Energy pyramids illustrate how much energy is available at each trophic level in an ecosystem. Energy flows from base producers to herbivores and up to higher-level consumers, and most of the energy is lost as heat or used for metabolism at each step, so only a portion passes to the next level. This creates a structure with a broad base and smaller levels above, showing the distribution of energy across the system. A food web maps who eats whom, a food chain shows a single feeding sequence, and a trophic level is just a position in the feeding hierarchy, not a diagram of energy amounts. Hence, the energy pyramid is the diagram that shows the distribution of energy among trophic levels.