Forests, grasslands, and ponds all contain food chains. Very little energy is available at each successive level of a food chain, with most energy being lost at each transfer. As a result, most food chains only have three or four levels. Producers, such as plants, usually have the greatest numbers of individuals in an ecosystem. Food chains can also be interconnected in a food web, where each organism may be eaten by multiple other organisms that are then eaten by others, creating a branching network of energy and nutrient transfers. Chemicals can enter ecosystems and accumulate up food chains through biological magnification, posing risks to organisms at higher trophic levels such as humans.
3. The Flow Of Energy Between Various
Components Of The Environment Has Been
Extensively Studied And Discovered Some
Facts
4. #1
Very little energy Is available for the next level of
consumers, food chains generally consist of only
three or four steps. The loss of energy at each step
is so great that very little usable energy remains after
four tropic levels.
5. #2
There are generally a grater number of individuals at
the lower tropic levels of an eco-system, the greatest
number is of the producers
6. #3
The length and complexity of food chains vary greatly. Each
organisms generally eaten by two or more other kinds of
organisms which in turn are eaten by several other
organisms. So instead of a straight line food chain, the
relationship can be shown as a series of branching lines
called a food web
9. Review
An interesting aspect of the food chain is how unknowingly
harmful chemicals enter our bodies through the food chain.
One of the reasons is the use of several pesticides and
other chemicals that protect the crops for from pests. These
chemicals are either washed of into the soil or to the water
bodies.
10. From the soil these are absorbed by plants when they
take in water, minerals, and from the water bodies
these were taken up by aquatic plants or animals,
this is one way how they enter the food chain. As
chemicals are not degradable , these get accumulated
progressively at each tropic level. As human beings
occupy the top level mostly, this phenomenon is
commonly known as “BIOLOGICAL
MAGNIFICATION”.
Biological magnification often refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain, work their way into rivers or lakes, and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans.