The food chain can be termed as a direct and single pathway for the flow of energy through different species of organisms into an ecosystem. On the other hand, the food web is defined as a complex or complex pathway to an ecosystem, with multiple food chains of different trophic levels through which energy flows.
Food chains, the food web, are part of an ecosystem that can be described as a community of the smallest microorganisms, plants to higher animals that feed, live, breed, interact and die in the same area or environment. Hierarchies feed into all ecosystems that include the sun (energy source), producer, consumer, and decomposer.
But in an ecosystem, it is impossible to have a food chain. To survive, organisms feed on different trophic levels. Therefore in the food web, different food chains are interconnected as well as interconnected to form a complex network. The food web increases competition and adaptability between organisms, but is not seen in the food chain.
With this article, we will focus on some important points that separate the food chain and the food web.
What is a food chain?
In a way, the energy flow process and sequence in which energy from lower levels of organisms to higher levels of organisms is called food chain. There are two types of food chains – grazing food chains and detritus food chains.
Grazing food chain:
The grazing food chain mainly consists of producers (green plants), primary consumers (herbivores), and secondary consumers (carnivores). The chain begins with green plants also known as autotrophs. They can prepare their food with the help of sunlight (main source of energy), water and air.
This is known as the first trophic level. These plants are first eaten by the consumer (Herbivores), and finally, these (Herbivores) are eaten separately by the secondary consumer (Carnivores).
Detritus food chain:
It begins with dead organic matter (detritus), which originated in the grazing food chain. Waste materials such as dead bodies of animals or fallen leaves are eaten by decomposers. Finally organic matter is decomposed by its predators. Large amounts of energy flow into this food chain.
What is a food web?
When several food chains are interlinked or interconnected to form a network, it is called the food web. Involvement of various. Fauna of various species of the population. All have one thing in common, energy is required to carry out their activities. The Sun is considered to be the main source of energy on Earth. This energy is used by green plants (producers) to make their food. Once the energy is captured, it will now pass through several stages of different organisms in a particular area, it is called the food web.
Differences between food chain and food web:
| Food Chain | Food Web |
| The flow of energy through a single direct route from the lower trophic level to the higher trophic level is called the food chain. | Conversely, many food chains through which the energy flow in the ecosystem is called the food web. |
| The number of chains it contains is only a straight chain. | It consists of several interconnected food chains. |
| Stability increases due to the increasing number of isolated and limited food chains. | Stability increases due to the presence of complex food chains. |
| As long as one group of organisms bothers, the entire chain will be affected. | The removal of a group of animals does not disturb the food web. |
| Usually, a member of a higher trophic level is a single type of lower trophic level | In the food web, members of the higher trophic levels depend on or feed on many different types of organisms of the lower trophic level. |
| The trophic level is only 4-6 trophic levels of different species in the food chain. | The food web consists of several trophic levels of different populations of species. |
| Types: Pasture Food Chain. Detritus food chain | No type |
Conclusion
All forms of life require energy directly or indirectly. The flow of energy and nutrients between different organisms is called an ecosystem, called the food chain, while what eats in the community, what it eats, is called natural food.
But it has been observed that the food web is more realistic than the food chain, as it reflects many of the relationships between how organisms interact. Hence the food web is considered more complex than the food chain.