alleryStart learning →What sits at the base of a detrital food web?
AFeeders on living green plants
BHunters of large plant eaters
CFeeders on dead organic matter
DGrazers on floating algal mats
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Feeders on dead organic matter
1. A grazing food web starts with plants or other photosynthetic organisms.
2. A detrital food web starts instead with organisms that feed on decaying material.
3. These decomposers and detritivores are usually bacteria or fungi.
4. They recycle dead material back into the living part of the ecosystem.
5. Most grazing food webs have a detrital web running alongside them.
_Source: OpenStax Biology 1e (CC BY 4.0), Chs 44 and 46, section 46.1 Ecology of Ecosystems_
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