Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

A food chain is a direct network of links in a food web starting from patron organisms (similar as lawn or trees which use radiation from the Sun to make their food via photosynthesis) and ending at an apex bloodsucker species (like horrible bears or killer jumbos), detritivores (like earthworms or woodlice), or decomposer species (similar as fungi or bacteria). A food chain also shows how organisms are related to each other by the food they eat. Each position of a food chain represents a different trophic position. A food chain differs from a food web because the complex networks of different creatures’ feeding relations are aggregated and the chain only follows a direct, direct pathway of one beast at a time. Natural interconnections between food chains make it a food web.

A common metric used to quantify food web trophic structure is food chain length. In its simplest form, the length of a chain is the number of links between a trophic consumer and the base of the web. The mean chain length of an entire web is the computation normal of the lengths of all chains in the food web. The food chain is an energy source illustration. The food chain begins with a patron, which is eaten by a primary consumer. The primary consumer may be eaten by a secondary consumer, which in turn may be consumed by a tertiary consumer. For illustration, a food chain might start with a green factory as the patron, which is eaten by a crawler, the primary consumer. The crawler might also be the prey of a secondary consumer similar as a frog, which itself may be eaten by a tertiary consumer similar as a snake [1 ].

Food chains are veritably important for the survival of utmost species. When only one element is removed from the food chain it can affect in extermination of a species in some cases. The foundation of the food chain consists of primary directors. Primary directors, or autotrophs, use energy deduced from either sun or inorganic chemical composites to produce complex organic composites, whereas species at advanced trophic situations cannot and so must consume directors or other life that itself consumes directors. Because the sun’s light is necessary for photosynthesis, utmost life couldn’t live if the sun faded. Indeed so, it has lately been discovered that there are some forms of life, chemotrophs, that appear to gain all their metabolic energy from chemosynthesis driven by hydrothermal reflections, therefore showing that some life may not bear solar energy to thrive [ 2].

Decomposers, which feed on dead creatures, break down the organic composites into simple nutrients that are returned to the soil. These are the simple nutrients that plants bear to produce organic composites. It’s estimated that there are further than different decomposers in actuality. Numerous food webs have a cornerstone species. A cornerstone species is a species that has a large impact on the girding terrain and can directly affect the food chain. If this cornerstone species dies off it can set the entire food chain off balance. Cornerstone species keep beasties from depleting all of the leafage in their terrain and precluding mass extermination. Food chains were first introduced by the Arab scientist and champion Al-Jahiz in the 10th century and latterly vulgarized in a book published in 1927 by Charles Elton, which also introduced the food web conception [3].

Food chain length

The length of a food chain is a nonstop variable furnishing a measure of the passage of energy and an indicator of ecological structure that increases through the liaison from the smallest to the loftiest trophic (feeding) situations. Food chains are frequently used in ecological modelling (similar as a three- species food chain). They’re simplified abstractions of real food webs, but complex in their dynamics and fine counteraccusations.

Ecologists have formulated and tested suppositions regarding the nature of ecological patterns associated with food chain length, similar as adding length adding with ecosystem size, reduction of energy at each consecutive position, or the proposition that long food chain lengths are unstable. Food chain studies have an important part in ecotoxicology studies, which trace the pathways and bio exaggeration of environmental pollutants [4].

Directors, similar as shops, are organisms that use solar or chemical energy to synthesize bounce. All food chains must start with a patron. In the deep ocean, food chains centered on hydrothermal reflections and cold seeps live in the absence of sun. Chemosynthetic bacteria and archaea use hydrogen sulphide and methane from hydrothermal reflections and cold seeps as an energy source (just as shops use sun) to produce carbohydrates; they form the base of the food chain. Consumers are organisms that eat other organisms. All organisms in a food chain, except the first organism, are consumers [5].

The effectiveness of a food chain depends on the energy first consumed by the primary producers. The primary consumer gets its energy from the patron. The tertiary consumer is the 3rd consumer; it’s placed at number four in the food chain. Patron → Primary Consumer → Secondary Consumer → Tertiary Consumer.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my Professor for his support and encouragement.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they are no conflict of interest.

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