Thursday 25 October 2012

The trophic levels of the ecosystem?

Explain the trophic levels of the ecosystem?

These are defined as a step of food chains which are differentiated on the basis of their method to obtain the food. The number of steps of food chain corresponds to the trophic levels. It mainly consists of the producers and consumers. Almost all trophic levels use little food for the building of body and the rest of food is used to liberate energy. It occurs during the respiration. The producers form the first trophic levels known as T1. The autotrophs are also known as the producers. They use the inorganic material to produce food by the process of photosynthesis. They not only make their food but also for the other organisms. They absorb the energy from sun and convert into the chemical energy. Organic compounds formed in this process are very essential in the process of building of bodies and also help in releasing energy. The heterotrophs form the rest of trophic levels such as T2, T3, T4 or T5. T2 is formed by the herbivore and T3 is formed by the carnivore. The carnivores are sub divided into T4, T5 and T6. The heterotrophs are not able to make their own food. They are of different types. Basically, they are of herbivores and carnivores type. The herbivores are known as the first order consumers and they feed on plants. The carnivores are known as the second order consumers and they feed on animals. The herbivore animals include deer, rabbit, and buffalo etc. The carnivore includes the frog, fish, jackal, snakes and wild cat. . The reducers are also known as the decomposers. It includes the bacteria and fungi. They decompose the food and act on dead plants. They are also known as the saprotrophs and are referred as a rotten feeder. They secrete the digestive enzymes which act on the food.
The organisms of same trophic level have the same food habit. There are certain trophic levels which have many resources. It includes the leaves, fruits and grasses. When the group of species which belong to the same trophic level have a common target of resource base are known as the guild. It includes the grazing animals and nectar feeding birds.

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