c- Various steps in a food chain represent:
Answers
Answer:
Various steps in a food chain are known as trophic levels. The first trophic level is of producers. The second trophic level is of primary consumers also known as herbivores, third of carnivores, or secondary consumers, fourth is of tertiary consumers also known as top carnivores.
Trophic level.
A food chain depicts a linear link of organisms involved in transfer of energy and matter. Each link consists of an organism and is called the trophic level. A single food chain may have three to five trophic levels. The trophic level indicates the mode of nutrition of organism present at that trophic level.
Explanation:
◉LET'S EXPLORE MORE
✯What is the Food Chain?
A food chain is a network of links in a food web. Here, the producers are consumed by the predators-primary and secondary consumers and then the detritivores and finally by decomposers. When many such individual food chains occur in an ecosystem, it is known as Food Web.
A food chain shows a direct transfer of energy between organisms. As every organism can feed on multiple things, a food web is a much more realistic and simplified method of transferring energy in an ecosystem.
Both food chains and food webs are similar to each other, but they are not the same. We will explore the differences here.
✯Types of Food chain
A food chain presents a unique, connected path of energy flow in an ecosystem, whereas the food web explains how food chains overlap. Both food chains and food webs, shares three types of organisms in a food chain:
- producers
- consumers
- decomposers
☆Producers
- Organisms that can synthesize their own food and usually serve as the foundation for all food chains.
- For example – plants, algae and few species of bacteria. They prepare their own food by converting sunlight into chemical energy and this process is called photosynthesis.
- They use energy from the sunlight for converting carbon dioxide into simple glucose which is easily broken down to produce energy. This energy is then stored in the form of sugars for later use.
☆Primary Consumers
- They are also called herbivores animals who eat producers or plants.
- Sometimes, these primary consumers become prey for other animals that sit higher on the food chain.
- Some of the primary consumers or herbivores living on the land are chipmunks, mice, horses, birds, deer and some insects. Fish, zooplankton, snails, sea urchins are a few marine primary consumers.
☆Secondary Consumers
- These are animals who feed on primary consumers.
- They usually eat meat and are termed as predators. Lion, hawks, snakes, coyotes, wolves, and spiders are a few terrestrial secondary consumers.
☆Tertiary Consumers
- They are the ones who feed on secondary consumers.
- They are thus called the top predators. They are also termed as apex predators and have no natural enemies.
- Naturally, you would assume that humans are at the top of the food chain, but they are not.
✯Why are Humans not at the top of the food chain?
- Scientists categorize the organisms on the food chain by trophic levels. A “Trophic level” means how far an organism is from the start (level 1) of the food chain.
- Predators that use a top-down control on organisms in their community are often considered keystone species. Humans are not considered apex predators because their diets are typically different, although human trophic levels increase with the consumption of meat.
- For instance, plants are considered to be at trophic level 1, and the apex predators are usually placed at level 4 or 5. According to scientists, humans are placed on a trophic level of 2.21.
