Question

The passage of materials from producer through primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary consumers is known as

Answer 1

It is a chain in which each organism has a different trophic level. It shows the interdependent relationship between living organisms.

Complete Answer:
The process of transfer of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism is called a Food chain.
In the food chain there are 3 types of organisms- producers, consumers and decomposers.
1. Producers – Organisms that are photosynthetic.
2. Consumers- Organisms that consume the producers.
3. Decomposers- Organisms that feed on dead plants and animals.
So the passage of materials from producer through primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary consumers is known as Food chain. We can say that Food chain is a system where a small animal is a food for a larger animal which in turn is a food for another larger animal.

- At the base of the food chain, there are primary producers which are autotrophs and photosynthetic organisms like plants, algae.
- Then the primary consumers eat the primary producers and are usually herbivores. The secondary consumers eat the primary consumers which are generally carnivores.
- The tertiary consumers eat the secondary consumers which are carnivores eating carnivores like eagles.
- Quaternary consumers eat the tertiary consumers.
- Food chain helps in understanding the mechanism of energy flow and circulation of matter in the ecosystem.
- Food chain maintains the ecological balance.
- Food chain biologically magnifies the toxicity of some chemicals.

Note: Members of higher trophic level can feed upon many organisms of lower trophic levels of other food chains. When one part of the food chain is altered it affects all the parts in some way and for a long time.