WHAT IS FOOD CHAIN?

FOOD CHAIN :

• Autotrophs (green plants) convert solar energy into chemical energy and stored in food material at the time of photosynthesis process. The autotrophs produces the food so they are called producers. The transfer of food from producer to other organisms, made in linear flow. This chain is known as food chain.

• Major characteristics of food chain :

1. All plants (producer) lie at the base (Origin) of each food chain.
2. Each layer of food chain is called the trophic level (Nutrient level).
3. Usually as food chain continuous the size increases and number decreases.
4. The flow energy through the food chain is unidirectional but that of nutrients are cyclic in nature.
5. Existence of single food chain in an ecosystem is not possible. Numbers of food chains are connected together to form a complex web like a structure called the food web.

Classification of food chain :

1. Predator food chain

2. Parasitic food chain

3. Saprophytic food chain

1. Predator food chain :

This type of food chain is starts from producers and ends to higher level consumers called predators. In every trophic level size of organisms increases while their numbers decreases.

Following is the example of this kind of food chain.

    Plant  (Producer)

             |

Grasshopper (Primary consumer)

             |

Toad (Secondary consumer)

             |

        Snake

             |

         Hawk and so on.

2. Parasitic Food chain :

This type of food chain starts from higher level host and ends to parasite animals. In this chain size of organisms decreases and number of them are increases as well as.

Following is the example of this kind of food chain.

Man -------------- Warm ------------ Protozoa

3. Saprophytic food chain :

This type of food chain starts from the dead organisms and ends to bacteria (Decomposer).

Following is an example of this kind of food chain.

Dead plants / Animals -------- Fungi ------- Bacteria