What is the difference between food chain and food web?

Category: business and finance food industry
4.7/5 (226 Views . 9 Votes)
A food web consists of many food chains. A food chain only follows just one path as animals find food. eg: A hawk eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a grasshopper, which has eaten grass. A food web shows the many different paths plants and animals are connected.



Besides, what is the difference between food chain and food web Class 10?

The Food Chain can be said as the single straight pathway, through which there is a flow of energy from the lower trophic level to the higher trophic level. On the contrary, in the food web, the members of higher trophic level depends or feed upon many different types of the organism of the lower trophic level.

Likewise, what is the difference between food chains food webs and energy pyramids? A food chain is a series of events which one organism eats another and obtains energy. a food web is a over lapping food chain in an ecosystem. An energy pyramid is when an organism in an ecosystem eats, and obtains energy.

One may also ask, what are the similarities between food webs and food chains?

A food chain and food web both depict who eats who. A food chain shows who is a the top. A food web shows all of the different things an animal eats, while a food web only shows one of the things. A food web is made of multiple food chains.

What is food web diagram?

Food web is an important ecological concept. Normally, food webs consist of a number of food chains meshed together. Each food chain is a descriptive diagram including a series of arrows, each pointing from one species to another, representing the flow of food energy from one feeding group of organisms to another.

29 Related Question Answers Found

What is the example of food web?

A food chain only follows just one path as animals find food. eg: A hawk eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a grasshopper, which has eaten grass. A food web shows the many different paths plants and animals are connected. eg: A hawk might also eat a mouse, a squirrel, a frog or some other animal.

Where are food chains found?

Producers, such as plants, are organisms that utilize solar or chemical energy to synthesize starch. All food chains must start with a producer. In the deep sea, food chains centered on hydrothermal vents and cold seeps exist in the absence of sunlight.

Why is food web important in an ecosystem?

Significance. Food webs are important tools in understanding that plants are the foundation of all ecosystems and food chains, sustaining life by providing nourishment and oxygen needed for survival and reproduction.

What are the 6 trophic levels?

There are five key trophic levels in an ecosystem, from simple plants that get energy from sunlight to apex predators at the top of the food chain.
  • Plants and Algae. Plants and algae comprise the lowest level of the trophic system.
  • Primary Consumers.
  • Secondary Consumers.
  • Tertiary Consumers.
  • Apex Predators.

What is a food web Class 10?


Food web is a network of food chains where all the chains are naturally interconnected. Flow of energy in a food chain is unidirectional, once it reaches the next tropic level it does not come back again. For example- energy which passes to the herbivores does not come back again to autotrophs.

What are primary consumers?

A primary consumer is an organism that feeds on primary producers. Organisms of this type make up the second trophic level and are consumed or predated by secondary consumers, tertiary consumers or apex predators. They can range from microscopic organisms such as zooplankton to animals as big as elephants.

How do you describe a food web?

In their simplest form, food webs are made of food chains. Food chains show a direct transfer of energy between organisms. A chain might involve a mouse eating some seeds on the forest floor. Then, a snake comes along and eats the mouse.

What do all food chains have in common?

More common, organisms rely on each other as a food source. A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food. Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals.

How many food chains are there in the food web?

There is usually a maximum of four or five links in a food chain, although food chains in aquatic ecosystems are more often longer than those on land. Eventually, all the energy in a food chain is dispersed as heat. Ecological pyramids place the primary producers at the base.

What are the similarities between producers and consumers?


-Plants or producers with the help of carbon dioxide and sunlight, synthesize food. This process is called photosynthesis. Consumers cannot synthesize food on their own, so they depend on producers for their food. Consumers consume food synthesized by the producers/autotrophs.

What is food chain and food web in ecosystem?

Food chain is a linear sequence of organisms which starts from producer organisms and ends with decomposer species. Food web is a connection of multiple food chains. From the food chain, we get to know how organisms are connected with each other. Food chain and food web form an integral part of this ecosystem.

What are the different trophic levels?

Trophic levels can be represented by numbers, starting at level 1 with plants. Level 2: Herbivores eat plants and are called primary consumers. Level 3: Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers. Level 4: Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.

What is a food chain simple definition?

A food chain shows how each living thing gets food, and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food chains begin with plant-life, and end with animal-life. Some animals eat plants, some animals eat other animals. A simple food chain could start with grass, which is eaten by rabbits.

Why is food web better than chain?

The food web provides a better model of an ecosystem because the food web is a model between MANY different consumers and producers in an ecosystem. While the food chain is a model for just one consumer and producer. Because energy is lost as it moves from producers to consumers, the bottom level is the largest.

How is energy transferred in a food web?


Energy is passed between organisms through the food chain. Plants harvest their energy from the sun during photosynthesis. This energy can then be passed from one organism to another in the food chain. The organism that obtains energy from sunlight is called the producer.

What does the arrow mean in a food chain?

Essentially, it means that organisms must eat other organisms. Food chains (Figure below) show the eating patterns in an ecosystem. Arrows are used to show the feeding relationship between the animals. The arrow points from the organism being eaten to the organism that eats it.

What is the 10% rule?

The 10% Rule means that when energy is passed in an ecosystem from one trophic level to the next, only ten percent of the energy will be passed on. A trophic level is the position of an organism in a food chain or energy pyramid.