Food Chains

Fullscreen Mode

Info About Food Chains

A food chain shows how each creature eats the one before it. It moves energy through a habitat. Producers kick things off by turning sunlight or chemicals into food. Most producers are green plants. Some bacteria and algae do it too.

Herbivores eat plants. Secondary consumers eat those herbivores. Tertiary consumers sit at the top of the chain. They prey on secondary consumers. Energy leaves the chain as heat at every step. Only ten percent moves up each level.

Every link ties creatures together. A lost predator spikes prey numbers. Rising prey numbers drain plant stocks. An empty role throws off the whole habitat. Mapping these links guides efforts to guard nature’s balance.