ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES(ES)

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Lesson 12: Food chains, food webs and ecological pyramids

Trophic level

Each step of the food web is called trophic level. Eg: producer, consumer etc. Thus plants represent the first trophic level, herbivores the second, carnivores third, omnivores fourth level. Omnivores and parasites occupy different trophic levels depending on what they happen to eat at that time. Each time energy moves to a new trophic level approximately 90% of the useful energy is lost.