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Trophic levels can be represented by numbers, starting at level 1 with plants. Further trophic levels are numbered subsequently according to how far the organism is along the food chain. Level 1 Plants and algae make their own food and are called producers. Level 2 Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers. Level 3
In the simplest scheme, the first trophic level (level 1) is plants, then herbivores (level 2), and then carnivores (level 3). The trophic level equals one more than the chain length, which is the number of links connecting to the base. The base of the food chain (primary producers or detritivores) is set at zero.
Food chain models typically predict that communities are controlled by predators at the top and plants (autotrophs or producers) at the bottom. [7] Trophic pyramids (also called ecological pyramids) model trophic levels in a food chain and/or biomass productivity. Thus, the foundation of the food chain typically consists of primary producers.
The phrase, trophic level, refers to the different levels or steps in the energy pathway. In other words, the producers, consumers, and decomposers are the main trophic levels. This chain of energy transferring from one species to another can continue several more times, but eventually ends.
In order to more efficiently show the quantity of organisms at each trophic level, these food chains are then organized into trophic pyramids. [1] The arrows in the food chain show that the energy flow is unidirectional, with the head of an arrow indicating the direction of energy flow; energy is lost as heat at each step along the way. [2] [3]
A pyramid of energy or pyramid of productivity shows the production or turnover (the rate at which energy or mass is transferred from one trophic level to the next) of biomass at each trophic level. Instead of showing a single snapshot in time, productivity pyramids show the flow of energy through the food chain. Typical units are grams per ...
[6] [7] Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the highest trophic levels. Food chains are often far shorter on land, usually limited to being secondary consumers – for example, wolves prey mostly upon large herbivores (primary consumers), which
A food chain is a linear system of links that is part of a food web, and represents the order in which organisms are consumed from one trophic level to the next. Each link in a food chain is associated with a trophic level in the ecosystem.