Question

Which of the following is an example of a producer?
A) Sun
B) Fern
C) Chestnut
D) Ant

Answer 1

Hint: Producers are organisms that can convert gaseous carbon dioxide into simple carbohydrates like glucose. Primary production refers to the process of creating organic molecules from inorganic carbon sources. Solar radiation, chemical reactions, or heat from deep ocean geothermal vents can all provide energy for this process. Plants are the primary producers on land.

Complete answer:
Phototrophs and chemotrophs are the two main types of primary producers.

Phototrophs use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. Photosynthesis is the process by which this occurs. Later, through respiration, the chemical bond energy in carbohydrates is released and used to fuel metabolic pathways. Chemotrophs go through a similar process, but the energy source is inorganic oxidation and reduction reactions. Chemotrophs are almost always microscopic organisms that live in areas where water and light are scarce.

Terms like secondary producers' and tertiary producers are occasionally used. Secondary producers are animals that consume plants because they ‘produce' biomass for their predators. Similarly, carnivores that eat other species are referred to as ‘tertiary producers.' The consumer can only obtain 10% of the calories available to the producer at each trophic level. As a result, energy pyramids with more than four levels, or ‘quaternary producers,' are uncommon.

Let us analyze the given options:
A) In the food chain, the sun is not a producer. It's neither a consumer nor a decomposer. All food chains, however, start with the sun.

B) Ferns are producers. They produce their own food through photosynthesis. They, like most land plants, have chlorophyll.

C) The chestnuts are a genus of eight or nine deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, Castanea. They are native to the Northern Hemisphere's temperate regions. The edible nuts they produce are also mentioned in the name. They are not creators.

D) Ants are scavengers, consumers, and decomposers. Before consumption, they decompose complex organic components into finer components. Because they are omnivores in nature, they consume both plant and animal-based materials, making them a secondary consumer.

Therefore the correct answer is option (B) i.e, Fern.

Note: Al-Jahiz was a 9th-century scientist who popularised the concept of food chains.
Charles Elton introduced the food web, a concept that expands on the food chain, in 1927.
Food chains can be short or long, depending on how many consumers can be consumed before one dies and begins to decompose. If a food chain is allowed to go on for too long, the energy becomes depleted and is no longer useful to the animal.