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Food chain, in ecology, the sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism. Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. Learn more about food chains in this article.
A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as earthworms and woodlice), or decomposer (such as fungi or bacteria). It is not the same as a food web.
A food chain refers to a linear sequence of organisms showing how energy or nutrient flows through an ecosystem when one organism consumes another for its survival. It provides information about which species eats which other species in nature.
The food chain describes who eats whom in the wild. Every living thing—from one-celled algae to giant blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus)—needs food to survive. Each food chain is a possible pathway that energy and nutrients can follow through the ecosystem. For example, grass produces its own food from sunlight. A rabbit eats the grass.
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 the producer organism, follows the chain and ends with the decomposer organism.
food web, a complex network of interconnecting and overlapping food chains showing feeding relationships within a community. A food chain shows how matter and energy from food are transferred from one organism to another, whereas a food web illustrates how food chains intertwine in an ecosystem.
A consumer is a living thing that eats other plants and animals. The arrows in a food chain show the way in which energy is moving. A predator is an animal that eats other animals.
A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another; the levels in the food chain are producers, primary consumers, higher-level consumers, and finally decomposers.
What is a food chain? Describe the role of decomposers in food webs. Why is a food web more realistic than a food chain? Draw a terrestrial food chain that includes four feeding levels.
Food chains are important because they show the intricate relationships in ecosystems. They can reveal how each organism depends on someone else for survival. Food chains also display what happens when a problem occurs and a producer or consumer is lost. Entire communities can collapse.