Consider the following statements.
I. Producers fix the Sun’s radiant energy to make food from simple inorganic materials.
II. Consumers are animals that depend on plants, directly or indirectly, for their food.
III. Decomposers, also known as saprotrophs, degrade dead organic matter.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → I, II and III
An ecosystem has three groups of living organisms based on how they get food: producers make it, consumers eat others, and decomposers break down the dead.
I. Producers fix the Sun’s radiant energy to make food from simple inorganic materials. — True. Green plants and photosynthetic bacteria (autotrophs) capture sunlight in photosynthesis. The food they make is the energy source for every other organism.
II. Consumers are animals that depend on plants, directly or indirectly, for their food. — True. Herbivores eat plants directly. Carnivores eat herbivores, so they depend on plants indirectly. Both are consumers (heterotrophs).
III. Decomposers, also known as saprotrophs, degrade dead organic matter. — True. Decomposers, mainly fungi and bacteria, release enzymes that break dead and waste material into simple inorganic substances, which they then absorb.
NCERT Extract:
Energy Flow – “… We know that plants and photosynthetic bacteria (autotrophs), fix Sun’s radiant energy to make food from simple inorganic materials. … All animals depend on plants (directly or indirectly) for their food needs. They are hence called consumers and also heterotrophs. … The detritus food chain (DFC) begins with dead organic matter. It is made up of decomposers which are heterotrophic organisms, mainly fungi and bacteria. They meet their energy and nutrient requirements by degrading dead organic matter or detritus. These are also known as saprotrophs (sapro: to decompose).”