Organisms in each trophic level eat the following:
- 1st Trophic Level: Producers
These organisms make their own food through processes like photosynthesis. They consume inorganic substances such as sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce organic matter. Examples include plants and algae
- 2nd Trophic Level: Primary Consumers
These are herbivores that eat the producers. They consume plants or algae directly. Examples include rabbits, mice, horses, and deer
- 3rd Trophic Level: Secondary Consumers
These organisms eat primary consumers. They are typically carnivores that feed on herbivores. Examples include snakes that eat mice or foxes that eat rabbits
- 4th Trophic Level: Tertiary Consumers
These are carnivores that eat secondary consumers. Examples include hawks eating snakes or golden eagles eating foxes
- Decomposers (sometimes considered a separate trophic level)
These organisms feed on dead organic matter and waste, breaking it down into nutrients that producers can reuse. Examples include fungi, bacteria, worms, and detritivores like millipedes and dung flies
In summary, each trophic level feeds on the level below it: producers synthesize their own food; primary consumers eat producers; secondary consumers eat primary consumers; tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers; and decomposers break down dead material from all levels
