EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -trophic level, step in a nutritive series, or food chain, of an ecosystem. The organisms of a chain are classified into these levels on the basis of their feeding behaviour. The first and lowest level contains the producers, green plants.

Detailed explanation-2: -A food chain refers to the hierarchy in which organisms in an ecosystem are grouped into trophic (nutritional) levels. The trophic levels are shown in a series or a succession to represent the flow of food energy and the feeding relationships between them.

Detailed explanation-3: -Trophic level is the relative position of an entity in the food chain. It forms the feeding positions in a food web or chain. All food webs and chains have at least two or three trophic levels.

Detailed explanation-4: -All species in the food webs can be distinguished into basal species (autotrophs, such as plants), intermediate species (herbivores and intermediate level carnivores, such as grasshopper and scorpion) or top predators (high level carnivores such as fox) (Figure 1). These feeding groups are referred as trophic levels.