Question

Explain in brief


Food chain?¿

Answer 1

⇢ It is the sequence of organisms through which food and its contained energy pas in an ecosystem with members at one step becoming food of later step of the sequence.

• Common food chains are predator food chains.
• Detritus food chain is the shortest. Parasitic food chains is the third type.

a) Aquatic food chain:-

Phytoplankton —> zooplankton—> small crustaceans—>water insects—>small fish —>large fish—> king fishes

b) land food chain:-

Herbs —> rabbit —> fox —> wolf—> tiger

Answer 2

Food Chain: Introduction

A food chain explains which organism eats another organism in the environment. The food chain is a linear sequence of organisms where nutrients and energy is transferred from one organism to the other. This occurs when one organism consumes another organism. It begins with producer organism, follows the chain and ends with decomposer organism. After understanding the food chain, we realize how one organism is dependent upon another species for survival. All food chains may not process if there is absence of bacteria on the earth.

Now, let’s look at the other aspects of a food chain, to get a better understanding.

What is a food chain?

A food chain refers to the order of events in an ecosystem, where one living organism eats another organism, and later that organism is consumed by another larger organism. The flow of nutrients and energy from one organism to another at different trophic levels forms a food chain.

The food chain also explains the feeding pattern or relationship between living organisms. Trophic level refers to the sequential stages in a food chain, starting with producers at the bottom, followed by primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. Every level in a food chain is known as a trophic level.

The food chain consists of four major parts, namely:

The Sun:

The sun is the initial source of energy, which provides energy for everything on the planet.

Producers:

The producers in a food chain include all green plants. This is the first stage in a food chain. The producers make up the first level of a food chain. The producers utilize the energy from the sun to make food. Producers are also known as autotrophs as they make their own food. Producers are any plant or other organisms that produce their own nutrients through photosynthesis. For example, green plants, fruits, phytoplanktons, small plants, and algae are some examples of producers in a food chain.

Consumers:

Consumers are all organisms that are dependent on plants or other organisms for food. This is the largest part of a food web, as it contains almost all living organisms. It includes herbivores which are animals that eat plants, carnivores which are animals that eat other animals, parasites are those organisms that live on other organisms by harming them and lastly the scavengers, which are animals that eat dead animals’ carcasses.

Here, herbivores are known as primary consumers and carnivores are secondary consumers. The second trophic level includes organisms that eat producers. Therefore, primary consumers or herbivores are organisms in the second trophic level.

Decomposers:

Decomposers are organisms that get energy from dead or waste organic material. This is the last stage in a food chain. Decomposers are an integral part of a food chain, as they convert organic waste materials into inorganic materials like nutrient-rich soil or land.