Food Webs & Energy Pyramids

Front

What is a food web?

Back

A food web is a complex network of feeding relationships among various organisms in an ecosystem, showing how energy and nutrients flow through different trophic levels.

Front

What is an energy pyramid?

Back

An energy pyramid is a graphical representation that shows the flow of energy at different trophic levels in an ecosystem, illustrating how energy decreases as it moves up the pyramid.

Front

What is a trophic level?

Back

A trophic level is a position in a food chain or food web that indicates the organism's role in the flow of energy and nutrients, such as producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers.

Front

What percentage of energy is typically transferred from one trophic level to the next?

Back

Typically, only about 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next, with the rest lost as heat or used for metabolic processes.

Front

What are primary consumers?

Back

Primary consumers are organisms that eat producers (plants) and are the second trophic level in a food web.

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What are producers?

Back

Producers are organisms, usually plants or algae, that create their own food through photosynthesis and form the base of the energy pyramid.

Front

What happens to energy as it moves up the energy pyramid?

Back

As energy moves up the energy pyramid, it decreases, resulting in fewer organisms at higher trophic levels.

Front

What is the role of decomposers in a food web?

Back

Decomposers break down dead organic matter, returning nutrients to the soil and completing the nutrient cycle in an ecosystem.

Front

How does energy flow in a food web?

Back

Energy flows in a food web from producers to primary consumers, then to secondary consumers, and so on, with each level receiving less energy than the one below.

Front

What is a secondary consumer?

Back

A secondary consumer is an organism that eats primary consumers and is typically a carnivore or omnivore.