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.
Food chain
Energy flows in the ecosystem in a certain pattern, where various trophic levels are connected through food chain. The sequence of eating and being eaten in an ecosystem is known as food chain. All organisms, living or dead, are potential food for some other organisms and thus, there is essentially no waste in the functioning of a natural ecosystem.
In nature basically there are two types of food chains.
1) Grazing food chain
2) Detritus food chain
1) Grazing food chain
Thse type of food chains start from green plants, goes to grazing herbivores and them to the carnivorous. Most of the ecosystem in nature follow this type of food chain. This type of food chain is directly dependent upon solar energy.
Some common examples of such food chains are :
Terrestrial food chain ( on land )
1) Grass — Grasshopper — Frog — Snake— Hawk
2) plants — Rabbit — Fox — Wolf — Tiger
Aquetic food chain ( in water body )
¹) Phytoplankton — Zooplankton — Small fish — Larger fish — Shark
²) Lichens — Reindeer — Man
2) Detritus food chain : These are of food chains start from dead organisms matter and goes to destrivore ( consumer of dead organic matter ) and then on to their predators.
These depend mainly on the availability of organic matter produced in another system and are less dependent on solar energy.
Some examples of such food chains are
¹) Dead organic matter — Fungi — Bacteria
²) Fallen leaves — soil mites — Insects — Fish
Characteristics of food chains
Following are the characteristics of food chain :
1) A food chain involves a nutritive interaction between the living organisms of a ecosystem.
2) In a food chain, there occurs repeated eating each group eats the other and is subsequently eaten by some other group of organisms.
3) A food chain is always straight and proceeds in a progressive straight line.
4) In a food chain, there is unidirectional flow of energy from Sun to producers and subsequently to series of different types of consumer.
5) Generally 80 % of energy is lost as heat at each transfer
