Question

Give the name for a network formed by interlinking of a number of food chains

Answer 1

A food web (or food cycle) is a natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation (usually an image) of what-eats-what in an ecological community. The food web is a simplified illustration of the various methods of feeding that links an ecosystem into a unified system of exchange. There are different kinds of feeding relations that can be roughly divided into herbivory, carnivory, scavenging and parasitism. Some of the organic matter eaten by heterotrophs, such as sugars, provides energy. Autotrophs and heterotrophs come in all sizes, from microscopic to many tonnes - from cyanobacteria to giant redwoods, and from viruses and bdellovibrio to blue whales.