Trophic Levels Flashcards
(9 cards)
What does an organisms trophic level show
Where it fits in a food chain
Different trophic levels
level 1
Producers which use light to synthesis their own food
Level 2
Primary consumers - herbivores eating the plants
Level 3
Secondary consumers - carnivors that eat herbivores
Level 4
Tertiary consumers - carnivores that eat other carnivores
An apex preditor is at the highest point
Decomposers
Responsible for recycling organic matter within an ecosystem
Final stop for all food chains
Break down dead material using enzymes
Predator vs prey
Is a consumer that eats other animals
Are the animals preditors eat
What do pyramids of biomass represent
Reletive amount of biomass at each trophic level
Biomass =
Total mass of living material in an organism x number of organisms
Transfer of biomass
Energy is wasted at each trophic level in a food chain meaning less biomass and energy is passed on to the next organism in the food chain
Rule for transfer efficiency between all trophic levels
10 percent of energy from a given trophic level will be available to the next trophic level
Reasons for inefficient transfer of biomass
Digestion - not all food is digested
Movement- highly mobile animals require lots of energy via respiration to sustain Movement which comes at the cost of having less energy available for growth
Body temp - warm blooded animals need to use energy to maintain body temp
Excretion - some material is excreted eg urea in urine and co2 in respiration
