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122 Food Chains

Key Idea: A food chain is a model to illustrate the feeding
relationships between organisms.
Organisms in ecosystems interact by way of their feeding
(trophic) relationships. These interactions can be shown in a
food chain, which is a simple model to illustrate how energy,
in the form of food, passes from one organism to the next.
Each organism in the chain is a food source for the next. The
levels of a food chain are called trophic levels. An organism
is assigned to a trophic level based on its position in the
food chain. Organisms may occupy different trophic levels
in different food chains or during different stages of their life.
Arrows link the organisms in a food chain. The direction of
the arrow shows the flow of energy through the trophic levels.
Most food chains begin with a producer, which is eaten by
a primary consumer (herbivore). Higher level consumers
(carnivores and omnivores) eat other consumers.

Millipede
Producers (autotrophs) e.g. plants, algae, Consumers (heterotrophs) e.g. animals, Detritivores and saprotrophs both are
and autotrophic bacteria, make their own get their energy from other organisms. consumers that gain nutrients from digesting
food from simple inorganic substances, often Consumers are ranked according to the dead organic matter (DOM). Detritivores
by photosynthesis using energy from the trophic level they occupy, i.e. 1st order, 2nd consume DOM (e.g. earthworms, millipedes)
sun. Inorganic nutrients are obtained from order, and classified according to diet (e.g. whereas saprotrophs secrete enzymes to
the abiotic environment, such as the soil and carnivores eat animal tissue, omnivores eat digest the DOM extracellularly and absorb the
atmosphere. plant and animal tissue). products of digestion (e.g. fungi, soil bacteria).
The diagram at the bottom of the page represents the basic elements of a food chain. In the questions below, you are
asked to add to the diagram the features that indicate the flow of energy through the community of organisms.
1. (a) What is the original energy source for this food chain?
(b) Draw arrows on the diagram above to show how the energy flows through the organisms in the food chain. Label
each arrow with the process involved in the energy transfer. Draw arrows to show how energy is lost by respiration.
2. Describe how the following obtain their energy:
(a) Producers:
(b) Consumers:
(c) Detritivores:
(d) Saprotrophs:

Respiration

Producers Herbivores Carnivores Carnivores

Trophic level: 1 Trophic level: 2 Trophic level: 3 Trophic level: 4

Detritivores and saprotrophs

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