Trophic Levels
What is a trophic level?
A feeding level or position in a food chain or food web.
What is a producer?
Producers are living things that create their own food.
What are consumers?
Consumers are usually animals that will eat the producers.
What does the 10 percent rule describe in an ecosystem?
Only about 10% of energy transfers from one trophic level to the next.
Where does most energy in an ecosystem originally come from?
Answer: The Sun.
Which trophic level do producers belong to?
The first trophic level.
Are plants the ONLY producers, true or false?
False, some bacteria can also be producers.
What are 3 types of consumers?
Types of consumers are omnivores, carnivores, herbivores and decomposers.
If producers have 1,000 KCal of energy, how much energy is available to primary consumers?
About 100 Kcal of energy.
Why are plants considered producers in a food chain?
Answer: Because they make their own food using photosynthesis.
What type of organism is a primary consumer?
An herbivore that eats producers.
Are producers plants?
Yes, producers can be plants.
What can be a consumer?
Any animal could be a consumer.
Why is only about 10% of energy passed to the next trophic level?
(Where does the other 90% go?)
Most energy is used for life processes and lost as heat.
What happens to energy as it moves from one organism to another?
Answer: Energy decreases as it moves up the food chain.
Which trophic level would a hawk or lion most likely occupy?
A higher-level consumer (secondary, tertiary, or quantenary consumer).
Or Apex Predator
How do producers grow?
Producers grow by a process called photosynthesis.
The answer is both.
If a secondary consumer receives 100 Joules of energy, about how much energy did the Producer have?
100 Joules of energy
Why can energy not be recycled in an ecosystem like matter can?
Energy is lost as heat and must constantly enter the ecosystem.
Why are there usually fewer organisms at higher trophic levels?
Less energy is available at higher levels.
Do producers and photosynthesis work together?
Yes, photosynthesis gives the producers the food and energy it needs.
What is the difference between a primary consumer and a secondary consumer?
The difference is primary consumers are herbivores and secondary consumers are carnivores.
Name one way energy is lost as it moves through an ecosystem.
Energy is lost as heat, movement, metabolism, or waste.
How does the 10 percent rule limit the number of trophic levels in a food chain?
There is not enough energy to support many higher trophic levels.