Question

The trophic level of herbivore animal is
A. First
B. Second
C. Third
D. Intermediate

Answer 1

Hint: A trophic level of organisms is the position they occupy in the food web. A food web or food chain is a succession of organisms that eat other organisms which in return are eaten themselves. Whenever an organism eats other organisms (organisms of higher trophic level eats organisms of lower trophic level), only 10% of energy is passed to the higher trophic level.

Complete answer:
The ecosystem maintains it’s balance all the time. An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in cooperation with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system. An ecological pyramid is a diagrammatic representation which shows the rank of organisms occupied in the ecosystem. Each of the bars that are present in the pyramid represents a different trophic level, and their order, which is based on who eats whom, and also represents the flow of energy within them. We define the food chain as a chain of organisms which eat the organisms of lower trophic level, for their own survival. A food chain begins with the plants which are the producers. Plants make their own food by the light received by the sun. Plants occupy the first position in the trophic level, as they are the producers. These plants are in return eaten by the herbivores, as herbivores depend only on plants for their food. Hence the herbivores occupy the second position in the trophic level.

So the right answer is Option B (Second).

Additional info: In an ecosystem, the food chain is the sequence of a transfer of matter and energy from one trophic level to another. Food chains intertwine as food webs because most organisms consume more than one type of plants or organisms. Food chains are usually of two types:- one beginning with plants and the other beginning with dead organic matter. But when the energy is transferred from one organism to another only 10% of the energy is transferred to the higher trophic level. This was observed by Reymond Lindeman.

Note:
The five trophic levels are Plants and Algae, followed by the primary Consumer followed by a secondary consumer, then tertiary and finally Apex predators. To calculate the trophic level we divide the amount from the higher trophic level by the amount from the lower trophic level and multiply by one hundred.