AP BIOLOGY

ECOLOGY

ENERGY FLOW AND PRIMARY PRODUCTION

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Noah has collected a mold specimen found on a tree in his backyard. Noah knows the mold is a decomposer, but what role does mold play in a food web?
A
Breaks down organic wasters and dead organisms
B
Uses sunlight and water to produce its own food
C
Releases oxygen into the atmosphere for respiration
D
Provides the energy that animals need for food
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Without decomposers, dead leaves, dead insects, and dead animals would pile up everywhere. Imagine what the world would look like! More importantly, decomposers make vital nutrients available to an ecosystem’s primary producers-usually plants and algae.

Detailed explanation-2: -A food chain describes how energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem. At the basic level there are plants that produce the energy, then it moves up to higher-level organisms like herbivores. After that when carnivores eat the herbivores, energy is transferred from one to the other.

Detailed explanation-3: -If an organism is removed from the food chain, it spoils the flow of energy and nutrient in the ecosystem. It disrupts the balance of the food chain. As a result, the organisms which depend on others for food will die due to starvation.

Detailed explanation-4: -Heterotrophs are known as consumers because they consume producers or other consumers. Dogs, birds, fish, and humans are all examples of heterotrophs. Heterotrophs occupy the second and third levels in a food chain, a sequence of organisms that provide energy and nutrients for other organisms.

There is 1 question to complete.