Question

Briefly describe the importance of food webs in the environment.

Answer 1

1. A food web consists of many interlinked food chains. A food web is complex. A prey may have multiple predators, and a predator may have multiple preys. The removal of any one organism from the food web may have severe consequences.
2. For example, if the frog is removed, the number of grasshoppers may increase. The grasshoppers will eat more leaves and grass and may thus deprive other organisms in the food web of nutrition.
3. Thus, each organism in a food web is important and cannot be removed without consequences.

Significance of food webs

1. An organism in a food web may have multiple sources of food. Thus, if one food source is scarce, the organism can still survive.
2. Food webs provide an ecosystem with stability and also present alternate paths for energy flow and nutrient flow.
3. Food webs play an important role in the cycling of nutrients in the living world. Nutrients and energy are passed from one trophic level to another.