ECOLOGY
ENERGY FLOW AND THE FOOD CHAIN
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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For example, grass produces its own food from sunlight. A rabbit eats the grass, then a fox eats the rabbit. When the fox dies, bacteria break down its body, returning it to the soil where it provides nutrients for plants, like grass.
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In one marine food chain, single-celled organisms called phytoplankton provide food for tiny shrimp called krill. Krill provide the main food source for the blue whale, an animal on the third trophic level.
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In a grassland ecosystem, a grasshopper might eat grass, a producer. The grasshopper might get eaten by a rat, which in turn is consumed by a snake. Finally, a hawk-an apex predator-swoops down and snatches up the snake.
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In a pond, the autotroph might be algae. A mosquito larva eats the algae, and then perhaps a dragonfly larva eats the young mosquito. The dragonfly larva becomes food for a fish, which provides a tasty meal for a raccoon.
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Detailed explanation-1: -A grasshopper is an herbivore, which means that it is a consumer that eats only plants. The grasshopper uses the energy it gets from eating the plant to carry out its life activities, such as moving, growing, and reproducing. The mouse and the hawk are at the third and fourth levels of the food chain example.
Detailed explanation-2: -Grasshoppers are primary consumers because they eat plants, which are producers. Producers are the base of the pyramid, the first trophic level.
Detailed explanation-3: -Every living thing-from one-celled algae to giant blue whales-needs food to survive. Each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem. For example, grass produces its own food from sunlight. A rabbit eats the grass.