Consider the following prairie food chain. Tall grass is consumed by grasshoppers that, in turn, are eaten by mice, and the mice
are eaten by prairie kingsnakes. Red-tailed hawks prey on mice and prairie kingsnakes. When a red-tailed hawk dies, bacteria, beetles, fungi, and many types of worms help break down the body. Which of the following correctly identifies a trophic level in this ecosystem? (A) Grasshoppers are primary consumers.
(B) Mice are primary consumers.
(C) prairie kingsnakes are secondary consumers.
(D) Grass is primary consumers.
A food chain is the chain of different organisms in which one organism is being eaten by others. In every food chain consists of producers and different consumers such as primary, secondary and tertiary or top consumers. In the given prairie ecosystem, the tall grasses are producers. The grasshopper feeds on the grass so they are the primary consumers and the mice is eaten by mice, so it is secondary consumers.
