Question

Define the food chain and mention the types of food chains.

Answer 1

Hint: The relationship showing the consumption of an organism linearly eating another organism to attain energy for survival.

Complete answer:
The linear network of links present in the food web which starts from the green plants (producers) and lasts at the predators (consumers) is known as the food chain. It is the sequence of species through which food and energy are passed in an ecosystem. A food chain shows how the organisms are related to each other by the food they eat. Each level of the food chain represents a trophic level.
The Arab scientist and philosopher Al-Jahiz were the first to introduce the food chains in the tenth century which was later published in 1927 and was popularized by Charles Elton. The concept of the food web was also introduced by Charles Elton.
There are two types of food chains, they are:
Grazing food chain – this food chain starts with the green plants or producers. The food energy then passes through the herbivores and lastly to the carnivores. Here the energy required in the producers is through the process of photosynthesis.
Detritus food chain – this food chain starts with dead organic matters. The food energy passes into decomposers and detritivores, which are further eaten by smaller organisms like carnivores.

Note: The interconnection of various food chains occurring naturally and is represented graphically is known as the food web. It is the arrangement found in the ecological community of what-eats-whom. A food chain differs from the food web because the complex network of different animal feeding relations is arranged and the chain only follows a direct, linear pathway of one animal at a line.