EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -Above producers on the pyramid are consumers. The organisms on the level just above producers are referred to as primary consumers, as they consume producers. These organisms are generally herbivores, such as rabbits. The organisms that consume primary consumers are secondary consumers.

Detailed explanation-3: -The organisms that eat the primary consumers are meat eaters (carnivores) and are called the secondary consumers. The secondary consumers tend to be larger and fewer in number. This continues on, all the way up to the top of the food chain.

Detailed explanation-4: -The primary producers are autotrophs and are most often photosynthetic organisms such as plants, algae, or cyanobacteria. The organisms that eat the primary producers are called primary consumers.

Detailed explanation-5: -The base of the pyramid is composed of species called autotrophs, the primary producers of the ecosystem. All other organisms in the ecosystem are consumers called heterotrophs, which either directly or indirectly depend on the primary producers for food energy.