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(a) What do you mean by the food chain?
(b) Explain the food chain in grassland with an example.
(c) Explain the energy flow in the ecosystem with examples.

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Last updated date: 22nd Mar 2024
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MVSAT 2024
Answer
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Hint: Grasses or other plants utilize the energy of sunlight and store it as a food product. These producers are eaten by herbivorous animals and in turn, the herbivorous animals are food for the carnivorous animals.

Complete Answer:
(a) The food chain is a set of sequential events where a living thing consumes other living organisms to obtain nutrients and energy. The energy flow from an organism to the subsequent organism will construct different trophic levels of a food chain. The food chain has 4 sections.

Sun: The primary source of energy for almost every living thing on the earth is the solar energy obtained from the sun.
Producers: The producers consist of all green plants. They can make their own food by the process called photosynthesis and hence called autotrophs. Examples of producers include green plants, algae, phytoplankton.

Consumers: Consumers are divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers.
-Primary consumers obtain their energy and nutrients by feeding on the producers. Primary consumers are herbivorous animals. An example of primary consumers is a rabbit.
-Secondary consumers obtain their energy and nutrients by feeding on primary consumers. They are carnivorous animals. An example of the secondary consumer is a frog, snake.
-Tertiary consumers obtain their energy and nutrients by feeding themselves on secondary consumers. They are carnivorous animals. Examples of tertiary consumers are fox, lions.
Decomposers: Decomposers are animals that feed themselves on dead organisms. Decomposers convert organic substances into inorganic materials like soil. An example of decomposers is the earthworm.

(b)When the energy obtained from the lowest trophic level in the food chain is through photosynthesis then the food chain is called a grazing food chain or grassland food chain. The producers are the beginning of the grazing food chain and the initial transfer of the energy is from producers to the herbivorous animals which are the primary consumers. The 2 types of food chains are the predator chain and parasitic chain.
Examples: Phytoplankton is eaten by zooplankton, zooplankton is eaten by fishes or grasses, fishes or grasses are eaten by rabbit and rabbit is eaten by the fox. This is an example of a food chain in grassland.

(c)The primary source of energy for almost every living thing on the earth is the solar energy obtained from the sun. The maximum radiation of the sun is reflected by the earth’s atmosphere to space and this efficacious energy is called photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Plants will utilize 2-10% of this PAR to perform photosynthesis. This smaller quantity of energy endures all life forms on this earth. The energy flow between various life forms occurs via the food chain and food web.

The green plants are called primary producers in the ecosystem. These green plants absorb sunlight and convert a small amount of this sunlight into chemical energy by photosynthesis. The energy obtained by the plants is transferred to the primary consumers. Primary consumers are herbivorous animals and they feed on various plant parts for its survival. Primary consumers translate the chemical energy stored on various plant parts into kinetic energy. Energy degradation occurs through the transformation of energy into heat. The herbivorous animals are consumed by the secondary consumers and further degradation of energy occurs. Secondary consumers are carnivorous animals. The degradation of energy further ensues when these secondary consumers are consumed by the tertiary consumers. From one trophic level to the next trophic level only 10% of energy will be transferred. The rest of energy will be released into the atmosphere. This is called the 10 percent law.

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Note: In an ecosystem, the energy flow is basically the cycle of energy content from one trophic level to another and as we go to the higher trophic levels from the lower one, there will be a reduction in the net amount of energy.
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