FOOD CHAIN IN AN ECOSYSTEM | ECOSYSTEM ANIMALS FEEDING

 FOOD CHAIN IN AN ECOSYSTEM

 By: Yusuf Basirat Bolanle

 

 FOOD CHAIN IN AN ECOSYSTEM

DEFINITION, DIAGRAM, LEVEL OF ORGANISMS AND IMPORTANCE OF A FOOD CHAIN IN AN ECOSYSTEM


Topic Outline

1. Introduction to food chain

2. Definition of food chain 

3. A well labelled diagram of a food chain

4. Levels of organism in a food chain 

5. Importance of a food chain 

INTRODUCTION TO A FOOD CHAIN

The sun is the major source of energy This is used by the producers or plants to produce their food with the help of photosynthesis. There comes another organism which is the consumer. The consumer eates the food and thereby taking up the energy generated to another level.

 The primary consumers are the organisms that consume the primary producers in an ecosystem feeding. This can be an herbivore animal like a cow or a goat or a man.  When these animals are consumed by a man, the, the man becomes the secondary consumer in the chain.

All living things need nutrients to survive, and food chains shows these feeding relationships.

What is a food chain?

A food chain is an order that shows the flow of energy from one organism to the other. The energy flows in a specific pathway in a community which has producers, consumers and decomposers.  Energy flows from one level to the other, through different organisms.

A food chain is the interconnection of food among different organisms from the producers to the consumers and  so on. It shows the flow of energy among different organisms in an ecosystem through feeding.

 

Level of organisms in a food chain

The level of organisms in the food chain consists of the following stages:

1. The producer

2. Primary consumer

3. Secondary consumer

4. Tertiary consumer

5. De composer

1. The Producers

The producers are the organisms that can make their own food through the help of photosynthesis. They are always at the beginning of the food chain. The are also known as autotrophic animals, or organisms that are photosynthetic They can make their own food  by using light energy and turning it into chemical energy through a process called Photosynthesis. 

Photosynthesis is a system whereby the green plants combine carbon IV oxide with water using light energy and the chlorophyll to produce carbon dioxide and the oxygen. The Producers are mainly “The Plants”.

2. The Primary Consumers

The Primary Consumers are the organisms that consume the producers to generate their own energy. They are the second in the food chain The primary consumers cannot make their own food but depend largely the the primary consumers to survive. 

 

Examples are goat and grasshoppers, caterpillars, rabbits, hummingbirds and cows. These category of animals are also called Heterotrophic animals.They are mainly herbivores, or organisms that eat plants, algae or fungi. They may be small rodents or insects that feed on plants. Human beings on the other hand can eat both plants and animals, as a result of this, they can also be regarded as primary consumers


3. The Secondary consumers

The third of this categories is The Secondary Consumers. They are also referred to as the Heterotrophic Animals.The are the animals that eat or consume the primary consumers. Good examples of this are Eagles.

The Secondary consumers are usually carnivores type or carnivorous animals. They get energy by eating only herbivore animals. Some secondary consumers are frogs, snakes  and foxes.

4. The Tertiary Consumers

The Tertiary Consumers are the fourth level in the food chain. The are also known as  the  apex predators. They are high-level consumers and predators. Example of this category of animals is a human being who can eat both producers and other consumers. They are usually bigger than the prey. Other examples are the eagles and  Human beings


5. De composers

De composers are those animals that feed on the dead animals. They feed mainly on the dead of another animals. They are always refereed to as the last level in the food chain. They are the ones recycling the matters of dead animals back into the soil. Examples of decomposers are the fungi and the bacterial They consume all the other organisms in the food chain.

Importance of food chain

1. The following are the importance of food chain in an ecosystem.

1. Food chain shows the feeding relationship among the animals in an ecosystem


2. They shows how food is being passed from one organism to the other and how the energy is flowing among different organisms in an ecosystem.

3. It also shows how one organisms lives on the other one to survive.

4.It helps the students, teachers and other scientists to understand the flowing and transferring of food within the ecosystem animals.

Continue with the Food Web In An Ecosystem Here 


 

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