ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES(ES)

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Lesson 12: Food chains, food webs and ecological pyramids

Food chain

The transfer of energy from the source in plants through a series of organisms, by eating and being eaten, constitutes food chains. It can be defined as “the transfer of energy from plants through a series of organisms with repeated eating and being eaten”. The transfer of energy from one trophic level i.e. from producers to next i.e. consumers is called a food chain. The flow of energy in a food chain is unidirectional. Study of food chains can give a valuable insight into the functioning of an ecosystem.

There are two general types of food chains: grazing food chain and detritus food chain.

• Grazing food chain
  
  
• Detritus food chain