Question

What do you understand about food web?

Answer 1

Hint: A food web is a network of food chains, which are interlinked to each other. Each member is eaten by another member sequentially in a food chain. Producers, consumers and decomposers of different food chains constitute a part of the food web. In the community of ecosystems, the food web connects food chains. This linkage helps in maintenance of balanced interrelations between different organisms.

Complete answer
A simple food web contains three trophic food chains (producers – herbivores – carnivores), which are linked with decomposers. The movement of minerals and nutrients is cyclic. But, the movement of energy is noncyclic and unidirectional. Multiple food chains are present in a food web. There are multiple paths present in the food web.
Food web is indicative of flow of energy amongst different organisms present in the ecosystem. Food web is essential for the study of behavior and character of organisms. Food web links the food chains and is a significant ecological concept. It is representative of feeding relationships within a community of ecosystems. It also hints at the transfer of food energy from plants to herbivores, then to carnivores and finally to decomposers. Food web is complex as there is a variety of cross interactions between different food chains. Examples are jackals eating both frogs (carnivores) and scavengers. Hence, there is a connected path of transfer of energy in an ecosystem.

Note:
A food web depicts energy flow via trophic connections. Across the food web, cyclic flow of material differs from the directed flow of energy. Sunlight provides energy to autotrophs for generation of food. Autotrophs are eaten by heterotrophs and energy is passed. From one trophic level to another, $10\%$ of energy is converted into biomass. Food web is broader than a food chain.