Who captures the energy from the sunlight, converts it, and stores it as chemical bonds within sugars?

• A. Autotrophs
• B. Consumers
• C. Decomposers
• D. Producers

Answer: (D)

Energy from sunlight is captured through photosynthesis by organisms that make their own food. These organisms are autotrophs, and in ecological terms they’re called producers because they form the base of the food web by converting light energy into organic molecules and storing it in chemical bonds, like in sugars such as glucose. So the best answer is producers: they carry out the light-to-chemical-energy conversion and store that energy in sugars for the rest of the ecosystem. Consumers and decomposers don’t capture sunlight to make sugars, they rely on the sugars produced by producers. Autotrophs would fit the description, but producers specifically emphasize their ecological role as the energy source for other organisms.