Difference Between Food Chain and Food Web: The food chain and the food web are two important aspects of the environment. you must have heard of them, but sometimes they seem quite mixed and confusing with each other. Under the food chain producers, first consumers, and second consumers come. This chain starts with plants. Plants are eaten by creatures like grasshoppers, rabbits, and deer. Then those creatures are eaten by other creatures while the different food chains in an ecosystem form a network called a food web. In this food, energy flows in different directions. One food chain is related to another food chain. Food comes from different nutritional levels. To understand the battle of food chain vs food web, let’s study them in more detail in this article on food chain and food web differences.
Food Chain vs Food Web – Check Differences in Tabular Form
The difference between food chain and food web in tabular form is shown below.
| Food Chain | Food Web |
|---|---|
| It has Single Pathways | It has Interconnected Pathways |
| 4-6 tropics levels only | Multiple trophic levels |
| Instability increases | Instability Decreceses |
| Organism are dependent on each other | Oragansism are may not be dependent |
| Represent common food chain in the ecosystem | Represent various food chains in ecosystem |
| Only one sequence | Multiple sequences |
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Food Chain Definition
To make you aware of the differentiation of food chain vs food web let’s first know the definition of the food chain. A food chain is a sequence of different types of organisms in which organisms are related to food and eater. In the food chain, chemical and energy producers, consumers and decomposers enter the non-living environment and re-cycle into biological components.
Within the ecosystem, the different organisms are related through the level of nutrition, that is, each organism becomes food for another organism. The sequence of organisms that eat each other forms a food chain. Some animals eat only one type of diet and hence they are members of the same food chain. Other animals feed on different types of food, so they are not only members of different food chains, but they can also have different nutritional levels in different food chains.
The food chain between organisms of lower trophic levels to higher trophic levels in an ecosystem is called a food chain. The food chain is arranged in order to transfer energy from lower trophic levels to higher trophic levels. For instance: a plant is eaten by insects, insects are eaten by frogs, frogs are food for snakes and snakes are eaten by an eagle. The sequence of this food and the flow of energy from one level to another is called the food chain.
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Types of Food Chain
- Grassland Food Chain – The pasture food chain extends from primary producers to herbivores, herbivores to carnivores and from carnivores to top carnivores.
- Detritus Food Chain- It begins with dead organic matter in the food chain and spreads from the soil to organisms that feed on erosion and organisms that depend on erosion predators.
- Predator food chain The predatory food chain progresses from green plants to small and large animals.
- Parasitic food chain -It leads from green plants to large animals and small organisms.
- Saprophytic food chain – It leads from dead animals to micro-organisms.
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Food Web Definition
The food chain represents only one aspect of the flow of food or energy in an ecosystem, and this implies that organisms have a direct, simple, separate relationship from the rest that may never occur in ecosystems. Within an ecosystem, there can be many interconnected food chains and this leads to the formation of a food web. Thus a food web is a network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem. An animal can be a member of different food chains.
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For example, a plant can be food for many herbivores at the same time, like a hare or grasshopper or goat or all depend on grass. Similarly, a herbivore can be food for different carnivorous species. The trophic levels in an ecosystem are not linear but are linked to each other and form a food web.
Thus a food web is a network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem. An animal can be a member of different food chains. Food webs are the most accurate model of energy flow in an ecosystem. The flow of energy in an ecosystem is always linear. There is a decrease in the amount of energy flow in the lower trophic levels as shown by the decreasing size of the boxes. Received by organisms in each step of the food chain or food web. The energy is also used for its own metabolism and maintenance and the remaining energy is transferred to the next nutritional level.
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Difference Between Food Chain and Food Web – FAQs
In a food chain, nutrients and energy flow along a linear path from one trophic level to another. The term “food web” refers to a network of interconnected food chains at multiple trophic levels. Food webs also provide a comprehensive overview of all the food chains in an ecosystem.
A food web is a network of interconnected food chains in a natural community. An example of a food web: In a food web, there are six interconnected food chains. It starts with plants and ends with vultures, the top carnivores.
Food chains are sequences of living organisms in a community that transfer food energy by consuming one another. For example, consider a grassland food chain: Grass (Producer)⟶Deer (Herbivore)⟶Lion(Carnivore).
A food chain begins with energy from the sun. Plants capture this energy. A food chain always begins with plant life and ends with an animal. The reason plants are called producers is that they convert carbon dioxide and water into food (sugar).
In Latin, “apex” means top or peak. There are no natural predators in the environment of apex predators, also known as alpha predators. Generally, apex predators are those who occupy the highest trophic levels in the food chain.