AP Environmental Science : Food Webs and Pyramids
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Example Question #11 : Food Webs And Pyramids
You receive a summer internship to study a rare organism of which is little is known. Through visual observation, you note that the organism is an herbivore because it only eats autotrophs. What type of consumer is this organism?
Primary consumer
Tertiary consumer
The organism is not a consumer
Quanternary consumer
Secondary consumer
Primary consumer
The correct response is primary consumer. The primary consumer is any organism that eats autotrophs (photosynthetic organisms). A secondary consumer feeds on the primary consumer, and so on and so forth.
Example Question #12 : Food Webs And Pyramids
Ecosystem ecologists do research to understand energy flows within ecosystems. They create food webs for interactions between producers and consumers. If an ecologist visually observes an organism that eats dead animals or fallen leaves, which type of organism are they observing?
Tertiary consumer
Primary consumer
Carnivore
Secondary consumer
Detritivore
Detritivore
The correct response is detritivore. Organisms classified as detritivores break down organic matter from dead animals and leaves. Primary consumers feed on autotrophs, and secondary consumers feed on primary consumers. Carnivores primarily eat meat. While detritus does contain animal matter, it also contains plant and microbial matter that carnivores tend not to eat.
Example Question #13 : Food Webs And Pyramids
Between each trophic level of a food web (for example, from producer to primary consumer), what percentage of energy is lost?
10%
90%
50%
33%
25%
90%
From one trophic level to the next, only 10% of energy is transferred. The other 90% is lost through metabolic processes, like heat. This means that for every 10,000 kcal produced by producers, a tertiary consumer (three trophic levels above) will only receive 10 kcal.
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