Ecology and Ecosystems QBA Exam 1 Practice Test 2026 - Free Practice Questions and Study Guide

Trophic levels and feeding relationships describe who eats whom. Producers form the base by capturing energy from the sun. Primary consumers are herbivores that eat those producers. An organism that eats primary consumers is at the next level up: a secondary consumer. It relies on herbivores for energy, rather than directly on plants. If something ate secondary consumers, it would be a tertiary consumer. So the correct idea is that eating primary consumers places you at the secondary consumer level, not the primary consumer level.