Food chain and food web

FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEB

1. Topic Food chain and food web PREPARED BY RIMSHA BAKHTAWAR RASHEED MSC CHEMISTRY 10-5-2021

2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOOD CHAIN AND FOOD WEB .

3. The food chain describes the feeding relationships of different organisms in a linear fashion. This is the simplest way of showing feeding relationships .

4. Food web shows multiple food chains, relationships and connections. This a complicated but realistic way of showing feeding relationships, as most organisms consume more than one species and are consumed by more than one species.

5. Food Web Vocabulary Producers (autotrophs) - make their own food Consumers - omnivores, carnivores and herbivores that eat other plants and animals Decomposers - insects and bacteria that break down organisms Herbivores - animals that only eat plants Carnivores - animals that eat other animals Omnivores - animals that eat both plants and animals Trophic Level - the position of an organism on the food chain (producer, consumer, decomposer) Primary Consumers - the organisms that eat the plants Secondary Consumers - the animals that eat the primary consumers Tertiary Consumers - the animals that can eat both primary and secondary consumers Animals and Energy

6. EXAMPLES OF FOOD WEB Food webs exist in a variety of biomes. Because each habitat is unique, each food web is slightly different. Explore different plants, animals and decomposers that can be found in deserts, savannas, forests and marine environments

7. Desert A desert is a habitat with little water. Deserts aren't all hot either. Some deserts are very cold. In the desert food web, you'll find: Producers : Cacti, bushes, acacias, flowers, brush Primary Consumers: Insects, lizards, rodents Secondary Consumers : Tarantulas, scorpions, lizards, snakes Tertiary Consumers : Hawks, foxes

8. In a food web, cacti are eaten by insects, lizards or rodents. The insects can be eaten by the tarantulas, scorpions and lizards. The lizards are then hunted by snakes, foxes and hawks. Everyone likes a little variety in their diet.

9. Forest Forests have lots of trees and other plants. They are dense with lots of different vegetation for animals to enjoy. Producers : Plants, fruits, nuts, seeds, flowers Primary Consumers : Deer, squirrels, frogs, birds, pikas Secondary Consumers: Pine marten, jackrabbits, ravens, ringtails Tertiary Consumers : Bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes

10. An example of a forest food web includes plants and fruit eaten by a mule deer. The mule deer can then be eaten by a lion or bobcat.

11. Savanna A savanna biome has a lot of grass for animals to graze on. These habitats are found in Africa, Australia and even South America. Producers : Star grass, oat grass and acacia Primary Consumers: Grasshoppers, ants, termites, warthogs, gazelle, impala, mice, wildebeest Secondary Consumers : Pangolins, aardvarks, mongooses Tertiary Consumers : Wild dogs, lions, cheetahs, caracals, servals , eagles.

12. The savanna food web might start with a warthog eating star grass. The warthog can then be caught and eaten by the lion or wild dog. Another example would be of a termite eating the red oat grass. That termite might then be eaten by the mongoose or the serval. But the mongoose can be eaten by the caracal, too.

13. Marine Underwater creatures Producers and Decomposers : Seagrass, seaweed, algae, plankton, bacteria Primary Consumers : Turtles, damselfish, crab, shrimp Secondary Consumers : Octopuses, triggerfish, squid, krill Tertiary Consumers : Seagulls, penguins, elephant seals, whales

14. If you were to watch the food web happen underwater, you would see krill eat plankton. The krill would then be eaten by fish or a whale. That fish might be eaten by a seagull or a seal.

15. Food chains, food web, are the part of the ecosystem that can be described as the community of the smallest microorganisms, plants to the higher animals that feed, live, reproduce, interact and die in the same area or environment. All ecosystems have feeding hierarchy which includes the sun (energy source), producer, consumer, and decomposer.

16. But in an ecosystem, it is impossible to have a single food chain. To survive, the organisms feed on the different trophic levels. So in the food web, different food chains are linked together as well as crisscross each other to form a complex network. The food web enhances the competitiveness and adaptability among organisms, but it is not seen in the food chain

17. TROPHIC LEVEL Each level in a food web is a trophic level. This means that energy is transferred from one organism to another, or from one trophic level to another. At the beginning of the food web are the producers or autotrophs. The producers are then eaten by the consumers or heterotrophs, which include primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers, plus the decomposers

18. FOOD PYRAMID/ENERGY PYRAMID A food pyramid takes the food chain but uses it to show how energy moves through a community.

19. Because each organism uses some of the energy it received from the previous level for growth and other processes, the energy available to the next level is less (because some of that energy has been used). This is why we have more primary producers than carnivores.