Debunking the Myth: The Human Trophic Level Kiana Kiser Mission Barbeque University Abstract This paper explores trophic levels and food chains to define the human trophic level (HTL). Using articles and studies based around the controversial debate of humans being top of the food chain, HTL was calculated and humans scored a 2.21 out of 5. This paper also clarifies what predators are at the top of the food chain and breaks down each trophic level and provides positions of specific organisms in the trophic levels. Debunking the Myth: The Human Trophic Level A food chain is described as “a series of organisms that eat one another so that energy and nutrients flow from one to the next”. The feeding position of the organism in the food chain is known as the trophic level. The trophic level is composed of 5 categories. The first level are the primary producers. Producers, such as plants, are autotrophic organisms so they can make their own food. The second level are the primary consumers. Primary consumers, also known as herbivores, feed on autotrophic organisms and utilize the energy made by the producers. The third level are secondary consumers. Naturally, secondary consumers feed on primary consumers. An example of an organism in this level is a rat that eats an …show more content…
Humans and apex predators compete for space and the human species is notorious for habitat destruction. Humans also contribute and change ecosystems with their effect on climate. Despite worldwide HTL being ranked amongst anchovies, humans are highly capable species who have the ability to kill and consume apex predators. HTL can increase if diet were changed from the consumption of fat and meat to consumption of organisms in higher trophic levels. But the composition of the human body relies on nutrients from plants to function
Figure 2 shows that the Panda is yet again a Primary Consumer or the Food Chain. Like the other Figures (diagrams), the tiger is the main apex predator of the food chain. In addition, the maggots are also included because they are scavengers who break down dead plants and animals. An arrow from the Decomposer attached with the Producer show that the plants would get essential nutrients from the maggots, otherwise dead matter and waste would pile up.
Humans are damaging the planet to live comfortably, we must change the way food is distributed worldwide, support local farmers and switch to a healthier diet in order to stop global warming. The current global has been getting better for us humans over the years, from eating bread and eggs 3 times a day in the XV century, now we can eat better than the kings of those times, however the much of the food in not healthy and the global food system still fails in getting food to every individual in the planet and in addition it contributes to the destruction of our world. Ms. Anna Lappe explains how the food system contributes to around 1/3 of the global warming issue in her essay “The Climate Crisis at the End of Our Fork”, while a group of Plos one explains the issues about the export and import of food growth over the last 50 years in the
A food chain begins with the producers. Since plants get their energy from sunlight, they are producers; one of the common producers in the Sonoran Desert is the prickly pear cactus. Many different animals eat the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, including Harris's antelope squirrel. The squirrel is a consumer because it gets its energy from other organisms. In this case, the squirrel gets its energy from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. The food chain starts with a producer, the prickly pear cactus, which obtains its energy from sunlight. The prickly pear is eaten by Harris's antelope squirrel, which, because it is the first consumer in the food chain, is called the primary consumer. The squirrel is eaten by the diamondback rattlesnake,
...e found in a various types of habitats, bats in the skies, whales and dolphins in the sea, and giants like the elephant in land. Mammals, being the dominant class of the current era since the Cenozoic era, affect the environment the most, mainly due to humans being the dominant species on the planet. Human’s niche in the ecosystem can be seen in all aspects of the current state of the planet. The acquisition and consumption of natural resources, pollution, and deforestation are some of the roles that mammals, humans, have on the biome in which they live in.
When people think of heroes and villains they think of the characters who play these roles in cartoon movies like Batman and Spiderman, but in reality, anyone can be a hero and anyone can be a villain. Heroes are considered to be inspirational and bold because of what they do to help others. While villains are typically defined as a wicked or evil person who makes others feel helpless.
Ý Herbivores commonly behave as energy maximizers (Belovsky 1986) and accomplish this maximizing behavior by choosing food that is of high quality and has low-search and low-handling time (Pyke et al. 1977).Ý The central place th... ... middle of paper ... ... tement of possible sources of error.
Ungar, P. S. (2007). Evolution of the human diet: The known, the unknown, and the
This pictures demonstration the level of food chain in the ecosystem. The bottom level is the producer and the higher level will be the predator.
What should govern our eating habits? Should base our consumption choices on foods that do not degrade the environment? Is it necessary to consider human rights, fair trade and food worker injustices? Should we base the foundation of our eating habits on animal welfare? The meaning of eating ethically is a multifaceted subject. There are so many varying issues when it comes to how humans have influenced the treatment and the development of animals throughout the evolution of man, from the carnivorous Neanderthal to the present day omnivorous Homosapien. Exploitation of animals includes using them for food, research, pets and educational purposes exclusively for the benefit of the human race. Animal rights activism attempts to bring awareness
high on the food chain, the organisms that the predator keep to a minimum could
The discovery of widespread trophic cascades has been one of the most exciting scientific findings for the past half century. A trophic cascade is an ecological process which starts at the top of the food chain and tumbles all the way down to the bottom. An example of this is the Yellowstone national park in the United States when wolves were reintroduced in 1995.
The Amazon is home to 390 billion Trees and 16,000 species. Figure 1 is the Food chain of species located in the Amazon. As seen on figure 1, the chain is displayed in a manner where organisms are arranged from their group (producer, consumer or decomposer). Arrows are also visible representing the flow of energy showing the direction of the energy being transferred from one organism to the other. One example is that Toucan feeds on Mango Tree, thus why having the arrow pointing from the tree to the Toucan, the Toucan is then hunted by its predator, the Caiman, hence why the arrow is pointed to the Caiman, this structure is evident throughout the food web as it illustrates the flow of energy. The food web system is an essential factor for examining the behaviours and interactions of the organisms such as prey to predator relationships becoming crucial for keeping the whole system
Every time human beings pursue new ways to feed themselves, there are some concerns in different areas. The concerns are in terms of causing food shortage for other human beings, destroying the natural environment, and most important is eating unhealthily. Eating ethically refers to the environment conservation, which makes the sustainable loop in cultivation. The industrial food chain is universal across the world, and the pollution from it is uncountable so that the environmental pollution relates everyone’s life qualities. Due to people’s expectation to eat healthy and convenient, the pollution has become such a serious problem around world. Most Americans strive to eat healthy; however, an attempt to feed such a big population causes environmental
Nutrition is the essential organic nutrients living organisms require for growth, maintenance, reproduction and repair. This is an essential process for the organism’s survival. Living organisms require energy to survive; this energy is derived from nutrients, or food. Ingestion, digestion, absorption and excretion are the stages of processing food. Heterotrophs are organisms which cannot synthesise their own food and are therefore totally reliant on organic substances for nutrition. Animals are heterotrophs and are divided into three categories; herbivores, carnivores and omnivores depending on how they obtain their food. Herbivores: eat mainly plant material, seeds or fruit. (Gordon McL Dryden, 2008). Omnivores: eat both vegetable and animal material. Carnivores: eat meat (they can also eat insects and fish).Plants are autotrophs, they synthesise organic substances from inorganic molecule using sunlight energy.
...tists concluded that ocean warming and acidification are the two greatest global threats that leads species to extinction. Human activity is the third reason that leads them into fatal and death of species. Human activity was involved in the past five great mass extinctions and they were related directly or indirectly. The directly of human activity that leads to extinction are habitat change, destruction, overexploitation of species, the spread of aggressive species and genes, pollution and climate change as humans use mainly all the earths lands for construction and they get advantage on fresh water rivers and limit natural rivers and unfortunate that drives species into massive fatal. While humans’ burn fossil fuels, the carbon dioxide have risen to their highest levels all over these years and that leads to global warming, rising sea levels and climate change.