Food Webs & Energy Pyramids

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What is a food web?

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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.

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What is a primary consumer?

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A primary consumer is an organism that eats producers (plants) to obtain energy. Examples include herbivores like snails and rabbits.

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What is a producer?

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A producer is an organism that can make its own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. Examples include plants and algae.

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What is an autotroph?

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An autotroph is another name for a producer, an organism that produces its own food.

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What is a trophic level?

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A trophic level is a position in a food chain or food web that indicates the flow of energy and nutrients. Levels include producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers.

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What is the role of herbivores in a food web?

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Herbivores, or primary consumers, eat producers to obtain energy and are essential for transferring energy from plants to higher trophic levels.

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What is a secondary consumer?

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A secondary consumer is an organism that eats primary consumers. Examples include small carnivores like frogs and birds.

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What is a tertiary consumer?

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A tertiary consumer is an organism that eats secondary consumers. Examples include larger predators like hawks and wolves.

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How much energy is typically transferred from one trophic level to the next?

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Typically, only about 10% of the energy from one trophic level is transferred to the next level.

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What is an energy pyramid?

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