Question

Q.20. Write the names of different trophic levels found in a
food-chain. (Answer in maximum 40 words)
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Answer 1

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The three basic ways in which organisms get food are as producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• Producers (autotrophs) are typically plants or algae. Plants and algae do not usually eat other organisms, but pull nutrients from the soil or the ocean and manufacture their own food using photosynthesis.
• Consumers (heterotrophs) are species that cannot manufacture their own food and need to consume other organisms. Animals that eat primary producers (like plants) are called herbivores. Animals that eat other animals are called carnivores, and animals that eat both plants and other animals are called omnivores.
• Decomposers, such as bacteria and fungi (mushrooms), feed on waste and dead matter, converting it into inorganic chemicals that can be recycled as mineral nutrients for plants to use again.

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Trophic levels can be represented by numbers, starting at level 1 with plants. Further trophic levels are numbered subsequently according to how far the organism is along the food chain.

1. Level 1: Plants and algae make their own food and are called producers.
2. Level 2: Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers.
3. Level 3: Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers.
4. Level 4: Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.
5. Apex predators by definition have no predators and are at the top of their food web.