Understand food chains and food webs - Middle School Life Science

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Question

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Which of the organisms in this food chain are autotrophs?

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Answer

The answer is "phytoplankton."

The transfer of energy in ecosystems occurs when organisms consume one another. Energy is transferred from the organism that is consumed to the organism that does the consuming. A food chain is a representation of this, and shows the “chain” of organisms through which nutrients and energy move.

In a food chain, each organism occupies a different trophic level, defined by how many energy transfers separate it from where the chain begins, with “producers” or “autotrophs” at the bottom, collecting energy from the sun. As you move up the food chain, more and more energy is lost to heat and used by organisms so top predators need to consume more prey to get the same amount of energy from the trophic level below them. Food webs consist of many interconnected food chains and are a more realistic representation of consumption relationships in ecosystems.

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