microscopic organism that lives in the ocean and can convert light energy to chemical energy through photosynthesis. animal that hunts other animals for food. one of three positions on the food chain: autotrophs (first), herbivores (second), and carnivores and omnivores (third).

What is the order of the ocean food chain?

Food chains start with a primary producer. Energy is then transferred to a primary consumer, then secondary, tertiary, and quaternary consumers in sequence. The primary consumer is an organism that eats a primary producer, which can include a zooplankton or snail in the ocean.

What are the levels of a food web?

Organisms in food webs are grouped into categories called trophic levels. Roughly speaking, these levels are divided into producers (first trophic level), consumers, and decomposers (last trophic level).

What are the marine trophic levels?

Definition of Trophic level: Microscopic plants at the bottom are assigned a throphic level of 1, while the herbivores and detritivors that feed on the plants and detritus make up trophic level 2. Higher order carnivores such as most marine mammals, are assigned trophic levels ranging from 3 to 5.

What are the 5 levels of the food chain?

Here are the five trophic levels:

• Level 1: Plants (producers)
• Level 2: Animals that eat plants or herbivores (primary consumers)
• Level 3: Animals that eat herbivores (secondary consumers, carnivores)
• Level 4: Animals that eat carnivores (tertiary consumers, carnivores)

What begins marine food chain?

The primary or main, marine food web is based on sunlight and plants. It includes many of the ocean’s species. However, it does not include all of them. There are other deep-ocean ecosystems that are entirely independent of the sunlight energy that kick-starts the main marine ecosystem.

What are the four marine ecosystems and how are they classified?

Although there is some disagreement, several types of marine ecosystems are largely agreed on: estuaries, salt marshes, mangrove forests, coral reefs, the open ocean, and the deep-sea ocean. An estuary is a coastal zone where oceans meets rivers.

What are the 6 trophic levels?

Examples of Trophic Level

• Primary Producers. Primary producers, or ”autotrophs”, are organisms that produce biomass from inorganic compounds.
• Primary Consumers.
• Secondary Consumers.
• Tertiary Consumers.
• Apex Predators.

What are the trophic levels give an example?

Plants are the producers, and represents the first trophic level. Grasshoppers are the primary consumers, and represent the second trophic level. Frogs are the secondary consumers, and represent the third trophic level. Snakes are the tertiary consumers and represent the fourth trophic level.

How many levels are in a food chain?

All food chains and webs have at least two or three trophic levels. Generally, there are a maximum of four trophic levels. Many consumers feed at more than one trophic level. Humans, for example, are primary consumers when they eat plants such as vegetables.

What are decomposers in a marine food web?

Overall, the main decomposer organisms in marine ecosystems are bacteria. Other important decomposers are fungi, marine worms, echinoderms, crustaceans and mollusks. In the colder ocean waters, only bacteria and fungi do the decomposing because the other creatures cannot survive in the extreme conditions.

What is the food web of the coral reef?

The Producers – the phytoplankton on the ocean’s surface. The Primary Consumers – the coral, sea turtle, and fish. The Secondary Consumers – the sharks, anemones, starfish, baracuda, jellyfish, sea snakes and sea slugs. The Scavengers – the fish.

What trophic level are crabs?

When the juveniles feed on algae, they are acting as primary consumers or herbivores. However, when more mature crabs eat worms, small crustaceans, fish carcasses or steal bait from fisherman, they are acting as secondary or even tertiary consumers.

What are the five trophic levels?

There are five key trophic levels in an ecosystem, from simple plants that get energy from sunlight to apex predators at the top of the food chain.

• Plants and Algae. Plants and algae comprise the lowest level of the trophic system.
• Primary Consumers.
• Secondary Consumers.
• Tertiary Consumers.
• Apex Predators.

Why are only 4 or 5 trophic levels present in each food chain?

There is only 10% flow of energy from one trophic level to the next higher level. The loss of energy at each step is so great that very little usable remains after four or five trophic levels. Hence only 4 to 5 trophic levels are present in each food chain.

What is food chain for Class 4?

A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food. Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals. For example, a simple food chain links the trees and shrubs, the giraffes (that eat trees and shrubs), and the lions (that eat the giraffes). Each link in this chain is food for the next link.