Biology · Environmental Studies

Ecosystem Nutrition and Energy Flow

1,093 Questions

Ecosystem nutrition and energy flow questions cover trophic levels, food chains, and biodegradable materials. These concepts frequently appear in general science sections of major competitive exams. Review these questions to build a solid understanding of ecological interactions.

Trophic levels conceptFood chain orderAutotrophic nutritionEnergy assimilationScavengers and decomposers

Ecosystem Nutrition and Energy Flow Questions

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Vultures in an ecosystem are 

  1. Predators

  2. Scavangers

  3. Consumers

  4. Top carnivores
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Vultures are scavenging birds that feed on dead animals. Vultures do not kill their own prey, they feed on dead animals. As scavengers, vultures play an important role in the ecosystem by decomposing the dead animal matter, cleaning the environment and reducing the spread of diseases.

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

What is true about any ecosystem?

  1. It is self regulatory

  2. It is self sustained

  3. Top carnivores have climax trophic level position

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation
  • Ecosystems are said to be self-regulating or self-sustained in that each contains feedback mechanisms, which function to maintain the components of the system in one or other of its equilibrium states.
  • An equilibrium state demonstrates the stability of ecosystems. Even in these stable states, the components of ecosystems are in dynamic exchanges, and these exchanges involve the build-up of energy or materials, which cycle the ecosystem either within a single equilibrium or between various equilibrium states. 
  • It is the adaptive capacity of ecosystems, that have provided both the stability and the enormous range of diversity on earth.
  • Food chains start at trophic level 1 with primary producers such as plants, moved to herbivores at level 2, predators at level 3 and finish with carnivores or apex predators at level 4 or 5.
    Thus, the correct answer is option D.
Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

If bamboo plant is growing in a forest, then what will be the trophic level of it?

  1. First trophic level $(T _1)$
  2. Second trophic level $(T _2)$
  3. Third trophic level $(T _3)$
  4. Fourth trophic level $(T _4)$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Trophic structure of an ecosystem is a type of producer-consumer arrangement, in which each food level is called as trophic level and the graphical representation of the trophic structure of ecosystem constitutes ecological pyramids. The green plants are producers and represent the first trophic level. So, bamboo plant is in the first trophic level.

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Which one of the following types of organisms occupy more than one trophic level in a pond ecosystem?

  1. Frog

  2. Phytoplankton

  3. Fish

  4. Zooplankton
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Fishes occupy more than one trophic level because some feed only on phytoplanktons and zooplankton, while other feeds on algae or other food sources across various strata of the water body  

So, the correct answer is 'Fish'

Multiple choice evs - i insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Organisms of a higher trophic level which feed on several types of organisms belonging to a lower trophic level constitute the

  1. Food web

  2. Ecological pyramid

  3. Ecosystem

  4. Food chain
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation
A network of food chains or feeding relationships in which organisms of higher trophic level feeds on more than one type of consumers. 
Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

In an ecosystem, trophic level of man is

  1. Producer

  2. Herbivore

  3. Omnivore

  4. Carnivore
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

An omnivore is an organism, that regularly consumes a variety of material, including plants, animals, algae, and fungi. Human beings are omnivores. People eat plants, such as vegetables and fruits. Human beings eat animals, cooked as meat or used for products like milk or eggs. Human eats fungi, such as mushrooms. We also eat algae, in the form of edible seaweeds, such as nori, which are used to wrap sushi rolls, and sea lettuce, eaten in salads. Both omnivores and carnivores, meat eaters, are at the third trophic level. Carnivores and omnivores are secondary consumers.

Multiple choice evs - i insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

More than one interconnected food chain in a region forms

  1. Ecological pryamid

  2. Food web

  3. Food chain

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

A food web is a natural interconnection between the food chains. Each living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they move through the ecosystem. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.

Therefore, the correct answer is option B.

Multiple choice evs - i insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

A group of interconnected food chains is called as a

  1. Food cycle

  2. Complex food chain

  3. Pyramid of energy

  4. Food web
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem. Each living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they move through the ecosystem. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web.

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Trophic levels are formed by_______________

  1. Plants only

  2. Animals only

  3. Carnivores only

  4. Organisms linked in food chain
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

  • The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain. A food chain represents a succession of organisms that eat another organism and are, in turn, eaten by others. 
  • Food chains start at trophic level 1 with primary producers such as plants, move to herbivores at level 2, predators at level 3 and finish with carnivores or apex predators at level 4 or 5.

Therefore, the correct answer is option D.

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Organisms of the same trophic level are______________

  1. Deer and honey bee

  2. Cheetah and grasshopper

  3. Snake and earthworm

  4. Crow and cow
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

  • Herbivores are at the second level of the food chain and mainly eat plants. Herbivores are considered primary consumers and are the first consumers on the food chain. 
  • The honey bee is a herbivore and therefore lives purely on the nutrients from plants. 
  • Deer are also herbivores, they eat plants and grasses. So, they belong to the same trophic level.

Therefore, the correct answer is option A.

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Trophic levels in ecosystem is formed by

  1. Ony bacteria

  2. Only plants

  3. Only herbivores

  4. Organisms linked in food chain
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The food chain is the series or linear link of different organisms through which the nutrients flow from one level to another. The trophic levels are denoted by the flow of energy from one level to the next level. The levels in any ecosystem is known by the organisms which are connected with each other by the transfer of energy.

So, the correct answer is option D. 

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

Which of the following trophic levels includes a bird feeding on both insects and berries?

  1. Primary consumer

  2. Secondary consumer

  3. Tertiary consumer

  4. Both A and B

  5. Both A and C
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Primary consumers are the organisms that feed on producers. Since the bird is feeding on berries (producer), it is a primary consumer. The organisms that feed on primary consumers are termed as secondary consumers. Since the bird is feeding on insects (primary consumer), it is a secondary consumer as well. This makes option D correct answer. 

Multiple choice evs insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

All of the following organisms are correctly paired with their trophic level except

  1. Tree- producer

  2. Hawk- primary consumer

  3. Fungi- detritivore

  4. Fox- secondary consumer

  5. Grasshopper- primary consumer
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
The tree is a producer. Producers are any kind of green plant. Green plants make their food by taking sunlight and using the energy to make sugar.
Hawk is a tertiary consumer which eats secondary consumers like hawks eat owls in a food chain. 
Fungi is a detritivore. They are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus.
Fox is a secondary consumer. They eat primary consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants).
Grasshopper is a primary consumer. They are animals that eat primary producers.
Therefore, the correct answer is option B.
Multiple choice evs - i insectivorous plants meaning of an ecosystem food chain and food web components of environment and their interdependencies

The base of the food web in marine ecosystem is

  1. Phytoplankton

  2. Zooplankton

  3. Kelp

  4. Fish

  5. Whales
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Phytoplanktons are the major producers and constitute the base of five level food web of the marine ecosystem. They convert chemical energy into the usable form of energy. Zooplanktons and other herbivores feed on phytoplanktons and these herbivores are themselves eaten by higher level consumers. Fishes and whales occupy higher level as consumers. Kelps occupy the base of the food web in kelp beds only. The correct answer is option A.