Food Chains and Food Webs

A food chain shows the feeding relationship between different living things in a particular environment or habitat.

A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and is generally a graphical representation (usually an image) of what-eats-what in an ecological community.

- Both represent the feeding relationship between different living organisms - Both represent the transfer of energy as different organisms feed or as trophic levels increase

Food webs are several interconnected food chains which contain more organisms compared to food chains. Moreover, food chains follow a linear pattern whereas food webs are like a maze of connections.

The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain. The energy transferred decreases as the trophic levels increase.

Organisms can be organised into different trophic levels: primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers and tertiary consumers.

Producers are organisms (mostly green plants) which make their own food.Consumers are animals that feed on producers and/or other consumers.Decomposers are organisms that feed on dead animals and/or the waste materials of living organisms.

Examples of:Producers - green plants, flowering plants, algae.Consumers - deers, jaguars, elephants.Decomposers - mushrooms, vultures, snails.