Question

What is the definition of a food chain, a food web, and a food pyramid?

Answer 1

Food chain:

1. The living organisms of an ecosystem feed on other organisms.
2. Such eating of animals and being eaten by other animals is called a food chain.
3. The sequence of the feeding of organisms forms a linear food chain. The first trophic level in the food chain is always a producer i.e. green plants.
4. The different trophic levels of the food chain are producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. Primary consumers are herbivores while all other animals are carnivores.
5. Examples of the food chains are the grazing food chain, detritus food chain, etc.

Food web:

1. In an ecosystem, food chains are interconnected with one another.
2. This interlocking network of the food chain is called the food web.
3. The Food web maintains the constant population of each trophic level.
4. The organisms consume different trophic level animals.
5. Food webs are a complex network of many food chains and are larger than a food chain.

Food pyramid:

1. The food pyramid is an ecological hierarchy of food interactions in which the apex predator is at the top, each level preys on the next lower level, and the bottom level is generally green vegetation.
2. Energy is transferred from one trophic level to another in the ecosystem and loses some amount at each trophic level.
3. The food pyramids are presented by the energy flow, the number of organisms at the trophic level, and the biomass.
4. Based on this, there are three types of pyramids such as the pyramid of number, the pyramid of biomass, and the pyramid of energy.