Food webs

Question 1

What do the arrows represent in food chains?

Answer 1

The arrows in a food chain show the direction of the energy is flowing

Question 2

What trophic levels make up food chains

Answer 2

• Autotroph
• Hetrotroph

Question 3

Describe the autotroph level

Answer 3

Autotrophs are capable of synthesizing their own molecules surrounding material, which they have taken in from their surroundings.

Question 4

Describe the heterotroph level

Answer 4

A heterotroph must digest and break down organic material in order to synthesise the things they need

Question 5

What is a herbivore

Answer 5

A herbivore eats plants that are rich in complex carbohydrates

Question 6

What is a carnivore

Answer 6

A carnivore consumes meat that is rich in proteins which are much easier to digest

Question 7

What is an omnivore

Answer 7

eats plants and animals

Question 8

What comes first on the food chain

Answer 8

the producer

Question 9

Where does the energy for food chains come from

Answer 9

the energy for food chains ultimately comes from the sun (photosynthesis)

Question 10

Is the sun drawn on a food chain

Answer 10

no

Question 11

What is the order of the food chain

Answer 11

producer > primary consumer > secondary consumer > tertiary consumer

Question 12

What are the other types of consumers

Answer 12

• scavengers
• detritivores
• decomposers

Question 13

Describe scavengers

Answer 13

the consumer that feeds on dead and decaying flesh or wastes

Question 14

Describe detritivores

Answer 14

consume dead organisms and waste

Question 15

Describe decomposers

Answer 15

Do not ingest food, they secrete enzymes and chemicals onto the food to break it down

Question 16

What is the 10% rule

Answer 16

The 10% rule in ecology shows that only around 10% of the energy available is passed to the next level

Question 17

What percentage of energy is egested

Answer 17

10%

Question 18

What percentage of energy is lost as heat and chemical energy

Answer 18

80%

Question 19

How much energy do organisms use at each trophic level

Answer 19

At each trophic level, organisms use about 90% of their energy

Question 20

What percentage of heat energy is lost as chemical energy in waste products

Answer 20

10%

Question 21

What percentage of energy is available for the next trophic level

Answer 21

Only 10% of the stored energy is available for the next trophic level

Question 22

What happens when you reach the top consumer in a food chain

Answer 22

By the time you reach the top consumers, there is very little energy left to pass on

Question 23

What are food webs

Answer 23

In most ecosystems species have more than one feeding relationship. There can be represented in the food web. Food webs are interconnecting food chains

Question 24

How do ecosystems become unstable

Answer 24

if species are removed

Question 25

How do ecosystems remain stable

Answer 25

The more feeding relationships (and therefore the greater biodiversity) present in an ecosystem the more stable it will become