Trophic Levels & Food Chains Flashcards

All 6 cards in this deck

What is a trophic level?

A feeding level in a food chain, i.e. the position an organism occupies in that chain.

What is a producer in a food chain?

An organism that makes its own food by photosynthesis, always the first trophic level.
e.g. grass

What name is given to the organism at the second trophic level of a food chain?

The primary consumer (a herbivore).
e.g. the zebra in grass → zebra → tick → oxpecker

In a food chain, what do the arrows represent?

The transfer of energy (and biomass) from the organism eaten to the organism that eats it.

In a predator–prey pair, which organism is the predator?

The one that hunts and eats the other; the prey is the one eaten.
e.g. in rabbit → fox, the fox is the predator

True or false? The arrows in a food chain point from the animal that eats to the food it eats.

False. Arrows point from the food to the consumer, showing the direction energy flows.