Question

Animals which occupy the same trophic level are:
A. Lion & bees
B. Deer & bees
C. Snake & earthworms
D. Crow & cow

Answer 1

Hint: Each and every organism of the ecosystem is a part of the food web that is constituted by linking multiple food chains. These organisms occupy a specific trophic level according to their feeding and dietary habits. The organisms who eat similar kinds of food occupy the same trophic level while those who feed on each other are located next to each other.


Complete step by step solution:
The food chain begins with producers who don't consume any other organism but synthesize their own food themselves by photosynthesis using sunlight or chemosynthesis using inorganic chemical compounds. Generally, plants, algae, some bacteria and fungi serve as producers in a food chain. Producers don't eat other organisms but they are eaten by animals.

Animals who feed on producers are mostly herbivores and sometimes omnivores. They are called primary consumers, and they gain 10% of the total energy that was generated by producers in their trophic level.

When primary consumers are eaten by a group of animals who are mostly carnivores then again 10% of energy of that trophic level is said to be transferred to the next one.

Considering the fact that producers are mostly fed by herbivores; it's not quite possible for lions and snakes to be considered for the answer. Crows as we know are carnivores while cows are herbivores so they can never be at the same trophic level due to differences in choice of food.

Thus, the only pair of animals who could be in the same trophic level is deer and bees. So the correct answer is option B.

Deer feed on grass, woody plants, shreds etc while bees feed on the nectar of flowers and flowering plants to make honey.

Note: The food chain might have a number of trophic levels; organisms situated in those trophic levels cannot be exclusive in terms of population or survival rate but only their feeding habits. For instance, autotrophs are always producers, herbivores are always primary consumers and so on.