Read the passage and answer the following questions:

Apart from the deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystem, the primary source of energy for all ecosystems on Earth is the sun. However, only a portion of the incident solar radiation, less than 50 percent, is photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Autotrophs, such as plants and photosynthetic bacteria, utilize this radiant energy to produce food from simple inorganic substances. Remarkably, plants can capture only 2-10 percent of the PAR, yet this small amount of energy sustains the entire living world. Understanding how solar energy, captured by plants, flows through different organisms within an ecosystem is crucial. In this unidirectional flow of energy, the sun nourishes the producers (often green plants), which serve as the foundation of the ecosystem. In terrestrial ecosystems, herbaceous and woody plants are the major producers, while in aquatic ecosystems, various species like phytoplankton, algae, and higher plants play this vital role. All other organisms, referred to as consumers or heterotrophs, depend on producers for their food requirements. Consumers can be classified based on their feeding habits. Those that directly consume producers, the plants, are called primary consumers. In contrast, if animals eat other animals that, in turn, feed on plants or their products, they are known as secondary consumers. Tertiary consumers, similarly, consume animals from the secondary consumer level. In summary, the entire ecosystem relies on the unidirectional flow of solar energy, starting from the sun to the producers (plants), and then passed on to the various levels of consumers, ensuring the sustenance of life within the ecosystem.

Green plants in the ecosystem comes under which trophic level?

First trophic level (primary producers).

The correct answer is Option (3) -First trophic level (primary producers).

Primary Producers

Primary producers are organisms that can produce their own food using light, water, and carbon dioxide. In most ecosystems, primary producers are plants and algae that use photosynthesis to convert light energy into chemical energy.

Trophic Levels: These are the hierarchical levels in a food chain, representing the flow of energy and nutrients from one group of organisms to another.

First Trophic Level: Occupied by primary producers (e.g., green plants, algae, phytoplankton).

Second Trophic Level: Occupied by primary consumers (herbivores) that eat primary producers (e.g., Zooplankton, grasshoppers, rabbits).

Third Trophic Level: Occupied by secondary consumers (carnivores or omnivores) that eat primary consumers (e.g., birds ,fishes, wolf).

Higher Trophic Levels: Include tertiary consumers and apex predators. (Lion).