1. Levels of the Chain
The food chain starts from the base, which consists of producer
organism and moves up the series in a straight line. The successive level
in a food chain are known as trophic
2. Producers:
• In the food chain, the primary base level is formed by the autotrophs.
• These are organisms that are capable of producing their own foods
from such substance as carbon dioxide and turning it into energy with
the help of sunlight.
3. Primary Consumers
• Heterotrophic organism or those who feed on the first trophic level,
the autotroph biomass, form the second level. They are the
herbivores include the tiny crustacean zooplankton that feed on the
microscopic algal cells from the surface waters of lakes, ponds, and
oceans as well as much larger , mammalian herbivores such as mice,
deer, cows, and elephants
4. SECONDARY CONSUMERS
• The next link in the chain that eat herbivores- these are called
secondary consumers- an example is a snake that eat rabbits. So
snake, is secondary consumers.
5. TERTIARY CONSUMERS
• Are the next level of consumers. Carnivores that consumer other
carnivores are called tertiary consumers like killer whales. Killer
whales hunt seals and sea lions. These are carnivores that kill fish,
squid, and octopuses.
6. DECOMPOSERS
• Break down dead plants and animals. They also break down the
waste of other organisms. They are an important element in the food
chain because they keep up continuous flow of nutrients for the
primary producers. Without the decomposers the plants would be
unable to source their energy on the one hand and on the other, the
environment would be filled dead matter and waste.
7. Importance of the Food Chain
• The food chains are the living components of the biosphere. These
are the vehicles of transfer of energy from one level to another.
Through the food chains, transfer of materials and nutrients also
takes place.
