BRAINCAKEFood Chains
A food chain shows how energy (and biomass) is transferred from one organism to the next as each is eaten. The arrows point in the direction of energy flow, from the organism that is eaten to the organism that eats it.
grass → grasshopper → frog → heron
Each stage in a food chain is a trophic level:
- Producers (trophic level 1): photosynthetic organisms such as plants and algae, which convert light energy into chemical energy in organic molecules.
- Primary consumers (level 2): herbivores that eat producers.
- Secondary consumers (level 3): carnivores that eat primary consumers.
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Key terms in this lesson
- food web
- A diagram showing all the interconnected feeding relationships (food chains) within a community.
- detritivore
- An animal, such as an earthworm, that feeds on dead organic matter and breaks it into smaller pieces.
More in The Efficiency of Ecosystems
- Food Webs
- Ecological Pyramids
- Pyramid of Numbers
- Pyramid of Biomass
- Inverted Pyramids of Numbers
- Energy Losses in Producers
- Energy Losses between Consumers
- Efficiency of Energy Transfer
All 20 lessons in The Efficiency of Ecosystems · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics