AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Producers make up the first trophic level. Producers, also known as autotrophs, make their own food and do not depend on any other organism for nutrition. Most autotrophs use a process called photosynthesis to create food (a nutrient called glucose) from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water.

Detailed explanation-2: -Because autotrophs do not consume other organisms, they are the first trophic level. Autotrophs are eaten by herbivores, organisms that consume plants. Herbivores are the second trophic level. Carnivores, creatures that eat meat, and omnivores, creatures that eat all types of organisms, are the third trophic level.

Detailed explanation-3: -Both primary (herbivores) and secondary (carnivores and omnivores) consumers are heterotrophs, while primary producers are autotrophs.

Detailed explanation-4: -Primary consumers make up the second trophic level. They are also called herbivores. They eat primary producers-plants or algae-and nothing else. For example, a grasshopper living in the Everglades is a primary consumer.

Detailed explanation-5: -Grass produces its own food through photosynthesis. It is a primary producer at the bottom of the food chain. Primary producers are the 1st trophic level. Grasshoppers are herbivores that eat grass.