trophic levels

• what are the trophic levels?


  1. Level 1: Plants and algae make their own food and are called producers.Level 2: Herbivores eat plants/algae and are called primary consumers.Level 3: Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers.Level 4: Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers. Apex predators are carnivores with no predators.
• where is biomass lost?

  lost in faeces = not all material is digested, some is egested and broken down by decomposers

  lost in waste = amino acid molecules are lost in urea. biomass is also lost in respiration.

  keeping constant body temp = the breakdown of biomass in respiration transfers energy to the surroundings.