The pyramid of biomass in marine ecosystem is generally inverted because

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primary productivity of marine ecosystems is greater than that of terrestrial ecosystems

the size of individual organisms decreases from lower trophic levels to higher trophic levels

phytoplankton synthesize far more biomass than the requirement of consumers

the standing crop of phytoplankton at any given time is lower than that of primary consumers

answer is D.

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Detailed Solution

Phytoplankton have shorter lifespan and they multiply much faster. Zooplankton have longer lifespan. A single generation of zooplankton consume several generations of phytoplankton. Hence at any given moment, the standing crop of zooplankton is higher than that of phytoplankton (Standing crop is the mass of biomass at a particular time in a trophic level).

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