Trophic Levels | Biology for Grade 10 PDF Download

Trophic levels in an ecosystem

Feeding relationships are shown in food chains. Each stage is a trophic level. Biomass is a measure of the total mass of living material in each trophic level.

Trophic levels

• A simple food chain is:
  algae → mosquito larvae → dragon fly larvae → perch
• All other food chains in an ecosystem can be added together to make a food web. These stages in a food chain or web are called trophic levels. The arrows show the transfer of biomass from one trophic level to another.
• At the bottom of all food chains is a producer. This is almost always a plant or alga which can photosynthesise to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose. This provides all the biomass for the food chain. Algae are the producers in the food chain above.
• The second trophic level in all food chains is an herbivore or omnivore called a primary consumer. Mosquito larvae are the primary consumers in the above food chain. The third stage is a carnivore or omnivore which eats the primary consumer. This is called the secondary consumer and is dragonfly larvae in the above food chain. There may be additional carnivorous consumers here which would be called tertiary and quaternary. The final level is perch, also a carnivore and is often called the top or apex predator. Organisms at the tops of food chains have no predators.
• Decomposers are bacteria and fungi which breakdown dead plant and animal matter. They secrete enzymes on the surface of the dead organisms to break the down and then absorb the digested, smaller food molecules.

Common words used with food chains and their meaning: