Question

Which type of consumer has the greatest chance of surviving in an ever-changing environment?

generalist
chemoautotroph
specialist
tertiary consumer
@thesmartone @eclipsedstar

Answer 1

i think generalist

Answer 2

Ok well, from the definitions I found, a generalist is a person competent in several different fields or activities. A chemoautotroph is an organism, typically a bacterium, that derives energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds. A specialist is a person who concentrates primarily on a particular subject or activity; a person highly skilled in a specific and restricted field. A tertiary consumer is a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.

Answer 3

so do you think generalist?

Answer 4

Yes, it has to be because since a generalist is capable in many different fields and activities. Do you understand?

Answer 5

@18jonea Your options are generalist, chemeoautotroph, specialist, and tertiary consumer.

First, we need to clearly define the terms in the context of a food web.

A generalist obtains energy from multiple sources, many are omnivores. All are consumers.

Chemeoautotrophs, like all all autotrophs, are producers. However, unlike photoautotrophs, chemeoauthotrophs use energy from chemical reactions to perform carbon fixation.

A specialist is the opposite of a generalist. Specialists obtain their energy through a single source or mechanism. They are unable to meet their nutritional needs without this source/mechanism and would die. All are consumers.

A tertiary consumer meets its nutritional needs by preying on other consumers. Clearly all are consumers. A good example would be humans eating meat. Regardless of the species being consumed by the human, that species is a consumer itself.

So, we can remove the autotrophs quite easily. Now consider this, two of the remaining three deal specifically with the source of energy while for the remainder, the source does not matter. We now remove tertiary consumer. This is the one that is not concerned with the exact source, it only matters if it is a consumer that consumes other consumers or if the consumer eats producers.

If we look at a fake, simplified food web that has 10 species. Eight are producers the others are consumers. We have one specialist consumer that eats only 1 species of the predators and the rest are generalists. If something kills off 50% the producers, but we don't know anything else, which do you think has a higher chance of survival, the generalist or the specialist?

Basically, the generalist is going to be fine, no matter what. The specialist though has a 50% chance that the species it needs to survive will be in the group killed.