What Are the Feeding Levels of an Herbivore?

Food Chain

• The food chain is a way of explaining how animals survive off one another. In the ocean, plankton are at the bottom of the food chain, as they survive off nutrients in the water. Plankton are then eaten by snail, shrimp, starfish and other small creatures, which in turn are eaten by larger fish. Near the top of this food chain are the sharks and whales that eat almost any fish.

Trophic Levels

• In the food chain, these "feeding levels" are in academia referred to as "trophic levels." According to the University of the Western Cape's Department of Biodiversity &Conservation Biology, these trophic levels dictate where an animal or organism fits into the food chain. Technically speaking, the bottom trophic level is the plants that grow out of the ground. They are referred to as the "primary producer." The "primary consumer," or the herbivore, fits in to the second trophic level. Herbivores eat only plant life, so they will always fit in to this second feeding level.

On Land

• The food chain is a slightly confused term, as it is not in fact a linear process. A wildebeest could be eaten by a lion or a cheetah. They may even eat each other. This crossing of food chains is referred to as a "food web." However, as a basic example of the position of the herbivores, consider the rose plant. It is eaten by aphids, which are herbivores. Aphids are then eaten by beetles, which are eaten by chameleons. A hawk will eat a chameleon, and in turn may be eaten by a wildcat. In this way the herbivore is the second level in a chain that continually expands.

Number pyramid

• In order for this food web to survive, the number of animals on each feeding level must be balanced. There can be only a small number of top-level predators. If there are too many, they will eat all of the other animals and eventually starve themselves. Conversely, there must be far more "primary producers" than "primary consumers," in order for the herbivores to survive. This is referred to as the "number pyramid," with the number of animals continually decreasing as you move up the feeding levels. This also reflects the amount of energy being passed. A plant will take energy from the sun and use that energy to grow. Similarly, the herbivore that eats the plant will use some of that energy. The energy gained by eating then continually decreases as you move up the number pyramid. All of the energy that any animal ever gains from eating another ultimately came from the sun.