Question

"In a food-chain, a trophic level represents a functional level, not a species." Explain.

Answer 1

Organisms can be divided on the basis of their feeding relationships. On the basis of sources of their nutrition, organisms occupy a specific position in the food chain called their trophic level. More than one species of organisms can occupy the same trophic level in a food chain, for example, in a grassland ecosystem, rabbits and insects occupy the same trophic level, while both are different species. Thus in a food chain, a trophic level represents a functional level, not a species.