a. In the ecological study of food interactions, what are autotrophic organisms called? b. How are heterotrophic organisms divided in the ecological study of food interactions? c. Trace the path along which energy transferred along a food chain? d. Evaluate why a vegetarian diet is considered a more energy-efficient diet for humans than a non-vegetarian diet.
Answers
a. Producers
b. Primary consumers, secondary consumers and tertiary consumers
c. Plants harvest their energy from the sun during photosynthesis. This energy can then be passed from one organism to another in the food chain. The organism that obtains energy from sunlight is called the producer. Often these are plants but in some circumstances it can be bacteria. Even though it is producers that bring energy into the food chain from the sun it is consumers that make up the majority of the food chain. These can be predators, scavengers and parasites. When a plant is eaten by a primary consumer, only 10% of the energy is passed on. The low percentage of transferred energy can be attributed to different reasons like some of the organism not being eaten, incomplete digestion of the eaten organism, energy lost in excretory processes or energy lost as heat. Consumers pass 20% of their energy onto other consumers. This is because they are more efficient than plants at passing on the energy. A lot of the energy is lost in excretion and some is lost in trying to maintain a constant body temperature. When producers or consumers die they will be fed on by decomposers. Decomposers break complex materials into simple components after producers and consumers die, using up the energy they contain. In this way, minerals and elements needed by plants are released in a form that can be absorbed by them.
d. Because there is more energy passed down to us by eating vegies than by eating meat.
Answer:
c-Energy flow in the ecosystem occurs by a food chain from producer to consumer.
The producers synthesise food and stores the energy from sun. E.g., green plants. They are called autotrophs.
Then energy is transfered from producers to consumers, called as heterotrophs.
Primary consumers are called as herbivores.
Herbivores are eaten up by secondary consumers, called as carnivores.
Thus, energy is transfered within a ecosystem by prey preadator relationship.
At the apex of the food chain omnivores (thrives on autotrophs as well as heterotrophs) are present.
When the producers and consumers of the food chain are dead, their energy is utilized by detrivores (organisms feeding on dead bodies). E.g., termites, vultures, etc.
The decomposers break down dead organisms and return the nutrients to the soil. They are known as saprophytes. E.g., bacteria, fungi.
Explanation:
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