AP BIOLOGY

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ECOLOGY

ENERGY FLOW AND THE FOOD CHAIN

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Humans are at the top of the food chain. Why? Because we don’t have many predators, or animals that eat us. A predator is an animal that is hunting another animal. So when a lion hunts an antelope, that lion is a predator. Prey is an animal that is being hunted. An antelope is a lion’s prey.Sometimes an animal can be both a predator and a prey. How? Check out the following food chain example:PLANT < GRASSHOPPER < RAT < SNAKEWhen a rat eats a grasshopper, the rat is the predator. But when a snake eats the rat, the rat is the prey.Which of the following is a rat’s predator?
A
grasshopper
B
plant
C
rat
D
snake
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Humans aren’t at the top of the food chain. In fact, we’re nowhere near the top. Ecologists rank species by their diets using a metric called the trophic level. Plants, which produce their own food, are given a rank of 1.

Detailed explanation-2: -Therefore, the energy transfer from one trophic level to the next, up the food chain, is like a pyramid; wider at the base and narrower at the top. Because of this inefficiency, there is only enough food for a few top level consumers, but there is lots of food for herbivores lower down on the food chain.

Detailed explanation-3: -Humans are considered secondary consumers. They obtain their food from producers (plants) and other animals (herbivores and consumers)

Detailed explanation-4: -The first and most obvious argument is that other predators are dangerous to hunt, and it would be illogical for a lion or leopard to see a conspecific as a potential food source.

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