In wildlife, there are practically no living organisms that would not eat other creatures or would not be food for someone. So many insects eat plants. The insects themselves are prey for larger creatures. These or those organisms are the links from which the food chain is formed. Examples of such "dependence" can be found everywhere. Moreover, in any such structure there is a first initial level. As a rule, these are green plants. What are some examples of food chains? What organisms can be links? How is the interaction between them? More on this later in the article.
General information
The food chain, examples of which will be given below, is a specific set of microorganisms, fungi, plants, animals. Each link is at its own level. This "dependence" is built on the principle of "food - consumer". Man is at the top of many food chains. The higher the density in a particular countrypopulation, the fewer links will be contained in the natural sequence, since people are forced to eat plants more often in such conditions.
Number of levels
How long can a food chain be? There are different examples of multilevel sequences. The most indicative is the following: inside the body of the caterpillar there are parasitic larvae of flies, in them - nematodes (worms), in worms, respectively, bacteria, but in them - various viruses. But there cannot be an infinite number of links. At each next level, there is a decrease in biomass by several tens of times. So, for example, an elk from 1000 kg of plants can "form" one hundred kilograms of its body. But for a tiger to increase its weight by 10 kg, it will take 100 kg of elk meat. The number of links depends on the conditions under which a particular animal food chain is formed. Examples of these systems can be seen in nature. So, frogs are a favorite food of some species of snakes, which, in turn, feed on predators. As a rule, in such a "sequence" there are no more than three or four links. Such a "construction" is also called an ecological pyramid. In it, each next step is much smaller than the previous one.
How do interactions occur within ecological pyramids?
How does the food chain work? The examples given above show that each next link should be at a higher level of development than the previous one. As already mentioned, relationships in anyThe ecological pyramid is built on the principle of "food-consumer". Due to the consumption of other organisms by one organism, energy is transferred from lower levels to higher ones. As a result, the cycle of substances in nature occurs.
Food chain. Examples
It is conditionally possible to distinguish several types of ecological pyramids. There is, in particular, a pasture food chain. Examples that can be seen in nature are sequences where the transfer of energy is carried out from lower (protozoan) organisms to higher (predators). Such pyramids, in particular, include the following sequences: "caterpillars-mice-vipers-hedgehogs-foxes", "rodents-predators". Another, detrital food chain, examples of which will be given below, is a sequence in which the biomass is not consumed by predators, but the process of putrefaction with the participation of microorganisms takes place. It is believed that this ecological pyramid begins with plants. So, in particular, the food chain of the forest looks like. Examples include: "fallen leaves - rotting by microorganisms", "dead tissue of plants - fungi - centipedes - excrement - fungi - springtails - mites (predatory) - predators - centipedes - bacteria".
Producers and consumers
In a large body of water (ocean, sea), planktonic unicellular algae are food for cladocerans (filter-feeding animals). They, in turn, are prey for predatory mosquito larvae. These organisms feed on certainkind of fish. They are eaten by larger predatory individuals. This ecological pyramid is an example of a marine food chain. All organisms acting as links are at different trophic levels. At the first stage there are producers, at the next stage there are consumers of the first order (consumers). The third trophic level includes consumers of the 2nd order (primary carnivores). They, in turn, serve as food for secondary predators - consumers of the third order, and so on. As a rule, ecological pyramids of land include three to five links.
Open water
Beyond the shelf sea, in the place where the slope of the mainland breaks more or less steeply towards the deep-water plain, the open sea originates. This area has predominantly blue and clear water. This is due to the absence of inorganic suspended compounds and a smaller volume of microscopic planktonic plants and animals (phyto- and zooplankton). In some areas, the surface of the water is distinguished by a particularly bright blue color. For example, the Sargasso Sea. In such cases, one speaks of the so-called oceanic deserts. In these zones, even at a depth of thousands of meters, with the help of sensitive equipment, traces of light (in the blue-green spectrum) can be detected. The open sea is characterized by the complete absence of various larvae of bottom organisms (echinoderms, mollusks, crustaceans) in the composition of zooplankton, the number of which sharply decreases with distance from the coast. Both in shallow water and in wide open spaces as the only source of energysunlight emerges. As a result of photosynthesis, phytoplankton with the help of chlorophyll forms organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water. This is how the so-called primary products are formed.
Links of the food chain of the sea
The organic compounds synthesized by algae are transmitted indirectly or directly to all organisms. The second link in the food chain in the sea are animal filter feeders. Organisms that make up phytoplankton are microscopically small (0.002-1mm). Often they form colonies, but their size does not exceed five millimeters. The third link is carnivores. They feed on filter feeders. In the shelf, as well as in the open seas, there are a lot of such organisms. These include, in particular, siphonophores, ctenophores, jellyfish, copepods, chaetognaths, and carinarids. Among fish, herring should be attributed to filter feeders. Their main food is copepods, which form large concentrations in the northern waters. The fourth link is predatory large fish. Some species are of commercial importance. The final link should also include cephalopods, toothed whales and seabirds.
Nutritional transport
The transfer of organic compounds within food chains is accompanied by significant energy losses. This is mainly due to the fact that most of it is spent on metabolic processes. About 10% of the energy is converted into matter in the body of the organism. Therefore, for example, anchovy,feeding on planktonic algae and being part of the structure of an exceptionally short food chain, it can develop in such huge quantities, as occurs in the Peruvian Current. The transfer of food to the twilight and deep zones from the light zone is due to active vertical migrations of zooplankton and individual fish species. Animals moving up and down at different times of the day end up at different depths.
Conclusion
It should be said that linear food chains are quite rare. Most often, ecological pyramids include populations belonging to several levels at once. The same species can eat both plants and animals; carnivores can eat both consumers of the first, and second and following orders; many animals consume living and dead organisms. Due to the complexity of link links, the loss of any species often has almost no effect on the state of the ecosystem. Those organisms that took the missing link as food may well find another source of nutrition, and other organisms begin to use the food of the missing link. Thus, the community as a whole maintains a balance. A more sustainable ecological system will be one in which there are more complex food chains, consisting of a large number of links, including many different species.
