What is the fourth trophic level called?(a) Producer(b) Primary consumer(c) Secondary consumer(d) Tertiary consumer (2024)

Hint: Organisms that come under this type of consumer may feed on secondary consumers, which in turn may eat primary consumers. Thus, it is also known as the third consumer. Examples of such animals are snakes, foxes, eagles, etc.

Complete answer:
When we go through the hint we can answer the question by saying that the fourth trophic level in an ecosystem is called a tertiary consumer. The ecosystem is the functional unit of nature in which all the living organisms interact among themselves and also with their surrounding physical environment. Within an ecosystem, a linear chain of links in a food web beginning from producers and ending in predator species is called a ‘food chain’.
Now let's try understanding a trophic level.
According to the source of nutrition or food, every organism has a specific place in the food chain. This particular place or level is known as their ‘trophic level’. There exist different trophic levels in an ecosystem called primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and tertiary consumer.
-First trophic level: Primary producers occupy the first trophic level.
-Second trophic level: This level is formed by primary consumers. It includes herbivores.
-Third trophic level: This level is occupied by secondary consumers. It includes carnivores.
-Fourth trophic level: Tertiary consumers come under the fourth trophic level of the food chain and are constituted by the top carnivores.
So, the correct answer is ‘tertiary consumer.’

Note: -The first trophic level is primarily occupied by phytoplankton and plants (grass and trees).
-The second trophic level includes all the animals which feed on the primary producers that are plants and phytoplankton.
-The third trophic level is formed by animals like birds, fishes, and sometimes wolves.
-The fourth trophic level includes man, animals like lion and tiger.

What is the fourth trophic level called?(a) Producer(b) Primary consumer(c) Secondary consumer(d) Tertiary consumer (2024)

FAQs

What is the fourth trophic level called?(a) Producer(b) Primary consumer(c) Secondary consumer(d) Tertiary consumer? ›

-Fourth trophic level: Tertiary consumers come under the fourth trophic level of the food chain and are constituted by the top carnivores. So, the correct answer is 'tertiary consumer. '

What is a fourth trophic level called? ›

The fourth Trophic level contains organisms known as tertiary consumers. Species that are tertiary consumers are often called top predators because they consume organisms in both the consumer levels below them (secondary and primary consumers).

What is level 4 of trophic level? ›

The first and lowest level contains the producers, green plants. The plants or their products are consumed by the second-level organisms—the herbivores, or plant eaters. At the third level, primary carnivores, or meat eaters, eat the herbivores; and at the fourth level, secondary carnivores eat the primary carnivores.

What is a fourth level called? ›

Tertiary consumers feed on primary carnivores and belong to the fourth trophic level.

What is the 4th level of the food chain? ›

A food chain represents the relationship between predator and prey. It is a way of classifying animals, plants, and fungi that eat other organisms in order to survive. The four levels in this food chain are primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and finally decomposers or phytoremediators.

What is the 4th trophic level of tertiary consumers? ›

A food chain with four trophic levels will show the feeding relationships of four organisms: 1st Trophic Level: Producer (Makes its own food) 2nd Trophic Level: Primary Consumer (Consumes producers) 3rd Trophic Level: Secondary Consumer (Consumes primary consumers) 4th Trophic Level: Tertiary Consumer (Consumes ...

Why are there 4 trophic levels? ›

There is only 10% flow of energy from one trophic level to the next higher level. The loss of energy at each step is so great that very little usable remains after four or five trophic levels. Hence only 4 to 5 trophic levels are present in each food chain.

What are the 4 trophic states? ›

Trophic classifications
Trophic State IndexChlorophyll (µg/L)Trophic Class
< 30—400—2.6Oligotrophic or hipotrophic
40—502.6—7.3Mesotrophic
50—707.3—56Eutrophic
70—100+56—155+Hypertrophic

What consumers are found in trophic level 4? ›

producers. ∎ Level 2: Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers. ∎ Level 3: Carnivores which eat herbivores are called secondary consumers. ∎ Level 4: Carnivores which eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.

Are humans in the 4th trophic level? ›

There usually are no more than four or five trophic levels in a food chain or web. Humans may fall into second, third, and fourth trophic levels of food chains or webs. They eat producers such as grain, primary consumers such as cows, and tertiary consumers such as salmon.

What is an example of a fourth order consumer? ›

Tertiary consumers are preyed on by quaternary consumers. These quaternary consumers are often the apex predators, which means that they do not have any predators in the ecosystem. Some examples of quaternary consumers are lions, polar bears, sharks, and hawks.

What is the fourth or fifth trophic level? ›

Top predators, also called apex predators, eat other consumers. They may be at the fourth or fifth trophic level. They have no natural enemies except humans. Lions are apex predators in the grassland ecosystem.

What is a quaternary consumer? ›

A quaternary consumer is an animal that consumes at the very top of the food chain, after the primary consumer. These animals primarily prey on or eat animals that are lower on the food chain than they are, such as tertiary and secondary consumers.

What is a tertiary consumer? ›

Tertiary consumers are animals that eat other animals. Specifically, they eat the secondary consumers in a food chain. This makes them carnivores, they do not typically eat plants. If you look at a food chain, this is the fourth organism in the chain, starting with plants.

What is called a producer? ›

A producer is someone who creates and supplies goods or services. Producers combine labor and capital—called factor inputs—to create—that is, to output—something else.

What is a primary consumer? ›

Primary consumers make up the second trophic level. They are also called herbivores. They eat primary producers—plants or algae—and nothing else. For example, a grasshopper living in the Everglades is a primary consumer.

What are trophic levels 4 and 5? ›

Other trophic levels

The organism that feeds on a secondary consumer is called a tertiary consumer and the one that eats on a tertiary consumer is referred to as a quaternary consumer. The tertiary consumers and the quaternary consumers occupy trophic levels 4 and 5, respectively.

What is an example of a food chain with 4 trophic levels? ›

Grass (Producer) →Grasshopper (Primary consumer) →Rat (Secondary consumer) →Owl (Tertiary consumer)

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