Final answer:
The claim is supported because energy pyramids are always upright due to the loss of energy at every trophic level, whereas pyramids of numbers can vary based on the actual counts of organisms at each level, leading to shapes that can be inverted, upright, or diamond-shaped.
Step-by-step explanation:
The claim that a pyramid of numbers for a community is not necessarily the same shape as the energy pyramid is supported by the fact that these two types of ecological pyramids measure different aspects of the ecosystem. While energy pyramids always show a decrease in energy as one moves up the trophic levels, and are therefore always upright due to the loss of energy at each step in a food chain, pyramids of numbers can vary in shape depending on the number of organisms at each trophic level. For example, if a single plant supports a large number of herbivores, and these in turn support a smaller number of carnivores, the pyramid of numbers could be inverted, upright, or diamond-shaped depending on the specific numbers of organisms at each trophic level.