Trophic Levels

Name: ____________________ Unit II
Mr. Willis
Biology: __________
Date: _____________
Ecology
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II
Food Chains and Webs --- "What's for dinner?"
Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. For example, plants get energy from the sun,
some animals eat plants, and some animals eat other animals.
A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological community (an ecosystem) to obtain
nutrition. A food chain starts with the primary energy source, usually the sun or boiling-hot deep sea
vents. The next link in the chain is an organism that makes its own food from the primary energy
source -- an example is photosynthetic plants that make their own food from sunlight (using a process
called photosynthesis) and chemosynthetic bacteria that make their food energy from chemicals in
hydrothermal vents. These are called autotrophs or primary producers.
Next come organisms that eat the autotrophs; these organisms are called herbivores or primary
consumers -- an example is a rabbit that eats grass. The next link in the chain is animals that eat
herbivore - these are called secondary consumers -- an example is a snake that eats rabbits. In turn,
these animals are eaten by larger predators -- an example is an owl that eats snakes. The tertiary
consumers are eaten by quaternary consumers -- an example is a hawk that eats owls. Each food
chain ends with a top predator and animal with no natural enemies (like an alligator, hawk, or polar
bear).
Unit I – Biology – The Nature of Science – Observations
Food Chain Questions

1. What travels through a food chain or web?
2. What is the ultimate energy for all life on Earth?
3. Food chains start with what?
4. The 1st organism in a food chain must always be what type of organism?
5. Name 2 food making processes.
6. Where do chemosynthetic bacteria get their energy?
7. Define herbivore.
8. Herbivores are also called _________________________.
9. What are animals called that feed on herbivores?
10. Secondary consumers are eaten by larger ________________.
11. _________________ consumers eat secondary consumers.
12. Make a food chain with a producer and 3 consumers.
The arrows in a food chain show the flow

of energy, from the sun or hydrothermal
vent to a top predator. As the energy
flows from organism to organism, energy
is lost at each step. A network of many
food chains is called a food web.
Trophic Levels:
The trophic level of an organism is the

position it holds in a food chain.
1. Primary producers (organisms that make their own food from sunlight and/or chemical energy
from deep sea vents) are the base of every food chain - these organisms are called autotrophs.
Primary consumers are animals that eat primary producers; they are also called herbivores (plant-
eaters).
2. Secondary consumers eat primary consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and
omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants).
3. Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.

4. Quaternary consumers eat tertiary consumers.
5. Food chains "end" with top predators, animals that have little or no natural enemies.
When any organism dies, it is eventually eaten by detrivores (like vultures, worms and crabs) and
broken down by decomposers (mostly bacteria and fungi), and the exchange of energy continues.
Some organisms' position in the food chain can vary as their diet differs. For example, when a bear
eats berries, the bear is functioning as a primary consumer. When a bear eats a plant-eating rodent, the
bear is functioning as a secondary consumer. When the bear eats salmon, the bear is functioning as a
tertiary consumer (this is because salmon is a secondary consumer, since salmon eat herring that eat
zooplankton that eat phytoplankton, that make their own energy from sunlight). Think about how
people's place in the food chain varies - often within a single meal!
Food Web Questions

1. What is used to indicate the flow of energy in a food chain or web?
2. What happens to energy as we move from step to step in a chain or web?
3. Define food web.
4. What is meant by trophic levels?
5. Define autotroph.
6. The 1st trophic level consists of _______________ consumers called _________________.
7. Name the 2nd trophic level (both names).
8. Secondary consumers may be _______________ eating meat or _______________ that eat

both plants and animals.
9. What is the 3rd trophic level called?
10. What is the 4th trophic level called?
11. At the 5th trophic level would be _____________ consumers that eat _____________
consumers.
12. Give an example of 3 detrivores. On what do they feed?
13. What organism feeds on dead plants and animals and helps recycle them?
14. Both ______________ and ______________act as decomposers
15. Can an organism fill more than one trophic level --- yes or no? Give an example.
Numbers of Organisms:
In any food web, energy is lost each time one organism eats another. Because of this, there have to
be many more plants than there are plant-eaters. There are more autotrophs than heterotrophs,
and more plant-eaters than meat-eaters. Each level has about 10% less energy available to it because
some of the energy is lost as heat at each level. Although there is intense competition between
animals, there is also interdependence. When one species goes extinct, it can affect an entire chain of
other species and have unpredictable consequences.
1. In food chains and webs, what trophic level must you have more of than others?
2. Each trophic level has how much LESS energy?
3. What may happen if a species goes extinct?
Equilibrium
As the number of carnivores in a community increases, they eat more and more of the herbivores,
decreasing the herbivore population. It then becomes harder and harder for the carnivores to find
herbivores to eat, and the population of carnivores decreases. In this way, the carnivores and herbivores
stay in a relatively stable equilibrium, each limiting the other's population. A similar equilibrium
exists between plants and plant-eaters.
Complete the Food Chains Worksheet

Circle the organisms that complete the food chains below.
Food Chain Worksheet

Read the passage then answer the questions below.
Food Web Worksheet

Read the passage then answer the questions below.
Food Chain Quiz - Multiple choice comprehension questions

Color the circle by each correct answer.
Food Chain Quiz #2 - Multiple choice comprehension questions

Color the circle by each correct answer.
Match each Food Chain Word to its Definition.

Food Chain Trophic Levels – Worksheet
Use the following word parts (suffixes and prefixes) to help you learn the meaning of science words.

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Name: ____________________ Unit II

Food Chain Questions

The arrows in a food chain show the flow

The trophic level of an organism is the

3. Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.

Food Web Questions

2. What happens to energy as we move from step to step in a chain or web?

3. Define food web.

4. What is meant by trophic levels?

6. The 1st trophic level consists of _______________ consumers called _________________.

7. Name the 2nd trophic level (both names).

8. Secondary consumers may be _______________ eating meat or _______________ that eat

9. What is the 3rd trophic level called?

10. What is the 4th trophic level called?

12. Give an example of 3 detrivores. On what do they feed?

14. Both ______________ and ______________act as decomposers

2. Each trophic level has how much LESS energy?

3. What may happen if a species goes extinct?

Complete the Food Chains Worksheet

Food Chain Worksheet

Food Web Worksheet

Food Chain Quiz - Multiple choice comprehension questions

Food Chain Quiz #2 - Multiple choice comprehension questions

Match each Food Chain Word to its Definition.

Food Chain Trophic Levels – Worksheet

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6. The 1st trophic level consists of _ consumers called ___.

8. Secondary consumers may be _ eating meat or _ that eat

14. Both and act as decomposers