Ecosystem Question 194
Question: A crocodile has just eaten a lamb. A plover accommodatingly picks the crocodile’s teeth. By this act, the plover, in ecological terms, is a:
Options:
A) Decomposer
B) Primary consumer
C) Secondary consumer
D) Tertiary consumer
Show Answer
Answer:
Correct Answer: C
Solution:
[c] In the feeding relationship of complex natural communites, organisms whose food is obtained from plants by the same number of steps are said to belong to same trophic level.
Here Lamb is a herbivore (primary consumer) and Crocodile a secondary consumer (primary carnivore).
Since Plover is feeding on flesh of Lamb stuck in between the teeth of Crocodile, it is also referred to as secondary consumer.