7.4.1

Trophic Levels

Test yourself

Food Chains and Trophic Levels

Food chains show feeding relationships and energy flows within a biological community. An organism’s trophic level describes where it fits into a food chain. Trophic levels are given numbers:

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Food chain: level 1

  • At the base of all food chains, there are green plants and algae.
  • These are called producers and use light energy from the Sun to synthesise (make) their own food.
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Food chain: level 2

  • Herbivores that eat green plants and/or algae are called primary consumers.
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Food chain: level 3

  • Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers.
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Food chain: level 4

  • Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.
  • An apex predator is at the highest point in the food chain.

Jump to other topics

1Cell Biology

1.1What's in Cells?

1.2Cell Division

1.3Transport in Cells

2Organisation

2.1Principles of Organisation

2.2Enzymes

2.3Circulatory System

2.4Non-Communicable Diseases

2.5Plant Tissues, Organs & Systems

3Infection & Response

4Bioenergetics

5Homeostasis & Response

5.1Homeostasis

5.2The Human Nervous System

5.3Hormonal Coordination in Humans

5.4Plant Hormones

6Inheritance, Variation & Evolution

7Ecology

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