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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Pyramid_of_numbers
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1992-09-02
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In ecology, a diagram that shows how many
plants and animals there are at different
levels in a food chain. There are always far
fewer individuals at the bottom of the chain
than at the top because only about 10% of the
food an animal eats is turned into flesh, so
the amount of food flowing through the chain
drops at each step. In a pyramid of numbers,
the primary producers (usually plants) are
represented at the bottom by a broad band,
the plant-eaters are shown above by a
narrower band, and the animals that prey on
them by a narrower band still. At the top of
the pyramid are the `top carnivores' such as
lions and sharks, which are present in the
smallest number.