For me, nature is a kind of well-oiled mechanism, in which everything is provided for to the smallest detail. It's amazing how everything is thought out, and it is unlikely that a person will ever be able to create something like this.

What does the term food chain mean?

According to the scientific definition, this concept includes the transfer of energy through a number of organisms, where the first link is the producers. This group includes plants that absorb inorganic substances, from which they synthesize nutritious organic compounds. Consumers feed on them - such organisms that are not capable of independent synthesis, which means that they are forced to eat ready-made organic matter. These are herbivores and insects, which act as a "lunch" for other consumers - predators. As a rule, the chain contains about 4-6 levels, where the closing link is represented by decomposers - organisms that decompose organic matter. In principle, there can be much more links, but there is a natural "limiter": on average, each link receives little energy from the previous one - up to 10%.

Examples of food chains in a forest community

Forests have their own characteristics, depending on their type. Coniferous forests do not have rich herbaceous vegetation, which means that food chains will have a certain set of animals. For example, a deer enjoys eating elderberry, and he himself becomes the prey of a bear or lynx. For a broad-leaved forest there will be a set. For example:

• bark - bark beetles - titmouse - falcon;
• fly - reptile - ferret - fox;
• seeds and fruits - squirrel - owl;
• plant - beetle - frog - already - hawk.

It is worth mentioning the scavengers who "recycle" organic remains. There are a great many of them in the forests: from the simplest unicellular to vertebrates. Their contribution to nature is enormous, because, otherwise, the planet would be covered with the remains of animals. They also convert dead bodies into inorganic compounds that plants need, and everything starts anew. In general, nature is perfection itself!

Most living organisms eat organic food, this is the specificity of their life on our planet. Among this food are plants, and the meat of other animals, their products of activity and dead matter, ready for decomposition. The very process of nutrition in different species of plants and animals occurs in different ways, but the so-called They always form. They transform matter and energy, and nutrients can thus pass from one being to another, carrying out the circulation of substances in nature.

In the woods

Forests of various kinds cover quite a lot of land surface. It is the lungs and the instrument of cleansing our planet. It is not for nothing that many progressive modern scientists and activists oppose mass deforestation today. The food chain in the forest can be quite diverse, but, as a rule, includes no more than 3-5 links. In order to understand the essence of the issue, let us turn to the possible components of this chain.

Producers and consumers

1. The first are autotrophic organisms that feed on inorganic food. They take energy and matter to create their own bodies, using gases and salts from their environment. An example is green plants that get their nutrition from sunlight through photosynthesis. Or numerous types of microorganisms that live everywhere: in the air, in the soil, in the water. It is the producers that for the most part make up the first link in almost any food chain in the forest (examples will be given below).
2. The second are heterotrophic organisms that feed on organic matter. Among them are those of the first order that directly carry out nutrition at the expense of plants and bacteria, producers. The second order - those who eat animal food (predators or carnivores).

Plants

As a rule, the food chain in the forest begins with them. They are the first link in this cycle. Trees and shrubs, grasses and mosses obtain food from inorganic substances using sunlight, gases and minerals. A food chain in a forest, for example, may begin with a birch tree, the bark of which is eaten by a hare, who, in turn, is killed and eaten by a wolf.

herbivorous animals

In a variety of forests, animals that feed on plant foods are found in abundance. Of course, for example, it is very different in its content from the lands of the middle zone. Various species of animals live in the jungle, many of which are herbivores, which means they make up the second link in the food chain, eating plant foods. From elephants and rhinos to barely visible insects, from amphibians and birds to mammals. So, in Brazil, for example, there are more than 700 species of butterflies, almost all of them are herbivores.

Poorer, of course, is the fauna in the forest belt of central Russia. Accordingly, there are much fewer options for the supply chain. Squirrels and hares, other rodents, deer and elk, hares - this is the basis for such chains.

Predators or carnivores

They are called so because they eat flesh, eating the meat of other animals. They occupy a dominant position in the food chain, often being the final link. In our forests, these are foxes and wolves, owls and eagles, sometimes bears (but in general they belong to which they can eat both plant and animal food). In the food chain, both one and several predators can take part, eating each other. The final link, as a rule, is the largest and most powerful carnivore. In the forest of the middle lane, this role can be played, for example, by a wolf. There are not too many such predators, and their population is limited by the food base and energy reserves. Since, according to the law of conservation of energy, when nutrients pass from one link to the next, up to 90% of the resource can be lost. This is probably why the number of links in most food chains cannot exceed five.

Scavengers

They feed on the remains of other organisms. Oddly enough, there are also quite a lot of them in the nature of the forest: from microorganisms and insects to birds and mammals. Many beetles, for example, use the corpses of other insects and even vertebrates as food. And bacteria are able to decompose the dead bodies of mammals in a fairly short time. Scavenging organisms play a huge role in nature. They destroy matter, transforming it into inorganic substances, release energy, using it for their life activity. If it were not for scavengers, then, probably, the entire earthly space would be covered with the bodies of animals and plants that have died for all time.

In the woods

To make a food chain in the forest, you need to know about those inhabitants who live there. And also about what these animals can eat.

1. Birch bark - insect larvae - small birds - birds of prey.
2. Fallen leaves - bacteria.
3. Butterfly caterpillar - mouse - snake - hedgehog - fox.
4. Acorn - mouse - fox.
5. Cereals - mouse - eagle owl.

There are also more authentic ones: fallen leaves - bacteria - earthworms - mice - mole - hedgehog - fox - wolf. But, as a rule, the number of links is not more than five. The food chain in a spruce forest is slightly different from that in a deciduous forest.

1. Cereal seeds - sparrow - wild cat.
2. Flowers (nectar) - butterfly - frog - already.
3. Fir cone - woodpecker - eagle.

Food chains can sometimes intertwine with each other, forming more complex, multi-level structures that combine into a single forest ecosystem. For example, the fox does not disdain to eat both insects and their larvae and mammals, so several food chains intersect.

A food chain is the transfer of energy from its source through a series of organisms. All living beings are connected, as they serve as food objects for other organisms. All food chains consist of three to five links. The first are usually producers - organisms that are capable of producing organic substances from inorganic ones themselves. These are plants that obtain nutrients through photosynthesis. Next come the consumers - these are heterotrophic organisms that receive ready-made organic substances. These will be animals: both herbivores and carnivores. The closing link of the food chain is usually decomposers - microorganisms that decompose organic matter.

The food chain cannot consist of six or more links, since each new link receives only 10% of the energy of the previous link, another 90% is lost in the form of heat.

What are food chains?

There are two types: pasture and detritus. The former are more common in nature. In such chains, the first link is always the producers (plants). They are followed by consumers of the first order - herbivorous animals. Further - consumers of the second order - small predators. Behind them - consumers of the third order - large predators. Further, there may also be fourth-order consumers, such long food chains are usually found in the oceans. The last link is the decomposers.

The second type of power circuits - detritus- more common in forests and savannahs. They arise due to the fact that most of the plant energy is not consumed by herbivorous organisms, but dies off, then being decomposed by decomposers and mineralized.

Food chains of this type start from detritus - organic residues of plant and animal origin. First-order consumers in such food chains are insects, such as dung beetles, or scavengers, such as hyenas, wolves, vultures. In addition, bacteria that feed on plant residues can be first-order consumers in such chains.

In biogeocenoses, everything is connected in such a way that most types of living organisms can become participants in both types of food chains.

Food chains in deciduous and mixed forests

Deciduous forests are mostly distributed in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet. They are found in Western and Central Europe, in Southern Scandinavia, in the Urals, in Western Siberia, East Asia, North Florida.

Deciduous forests are divided into broad-leaved and small-leaved. The former are characterized by such trees as oak, linden, ash, maple, elm. For the second - birch, alder, aspen.

Mixed forests are those in which both coniferous and deciduous trees grow. Mixed forests are characteristic of the temperate climate zone. They are found in the south of Scandinavia, in the Caucasus, in the Carpathians, in the Far East, in Siberia, in California, in the Appalachians, near the Great Lakes.

Mixed forests consist of trees such as spruce, pine, oak, linden, maple, elm, apple, fir, beech, hornbeam.

in deciduous and mixed forests very common pasture food chains. The first link in the food chain in the forests are usually numerous types of herbs, berries such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries. elderberry, tree bark, nuts, cones.

First-order consumers will most often be such herbivores as roe deer, elk, deer, rodents, for example, squirrels, mice, shrews, and also hares.

Second order consumers are predators. Usually it is a fox, wolf, weasel, ermine, lynx, owl and others. A vivid example of the fact that the same species participates in both pasture and detrital food chains will be the wolf: it can both hunt small mammals and eat carrion.

Second-order consumers can themselves become prey to larger predators, especially birds: for example, small owls can be eaten by hawks.

The closing link will be decomposers(decay bacteria).

Examples of food chains in a deciduous-coniferous forest:

• birch bark - hare - wolf - decomposers;
• wood - Maybug larva - woodpecker - hawk - decomposers;
• leaf litter (detritus) - worms - shrews - owl - decomposers.

Features of food chains in coniferous forests

Such forests are located in the north of Eurasia and North America. They consist of trees such as pine, spruce, fir, cedar, larch and others.

Here everything is very different from mixed and deciduous forests.

The first link in this case will not be grass, but moss, shrubs or lichens. This is due to the fact that in coniferous forests there is not enough light for a dense grass cover to exist.

Accordingly, the animals that will become consumers of the first order will be different - they should not eat grass, but moss, lichens or shrubs. It can be some types of deer.

Despite the fact that shrubs and mosses are more common, herbaceous plants and bushes are still found in coniferous forests. These are nettle, celandine, strawberry, elderberry. Hares, moose, squirrels usually eat such food, which can also become first-order consumers.

The consumers of the second order will be, like mixed forests, predators. These are mink, bear, wolverine, lynx and others.

Small predators such as mink can become prey for third order consumers.

The closing link will be the microorganisms of decay.

In addition, in coniferous forests are very common detrital food chains. Here, the first link will most often be plant humus, which is fed by soil bacteria, becoming, in turn, food for unicellular animals that are eaten by fungi. Such chains are usually long and may consist of more than five links.

Examples of food chains in a coniferous forest:

• pine nuts - squirrel - mink - decomposers;
• plant humus (detritus) - bacteria - protozoa - fungi - bear - decomposers.

In order to answer this question and correctly draw up food chains, you first need to find out what food chains are.

What is a "supply chain"

The food chain is the main relationship of animals, plants, insects to supply themselves with food (or being food). A food chain, or in other words, a food chain, is a series of organisms that feed on each other. That is, each creature feeds on another creature and is itself food for other organisms. Hence the name "chain", that is, sequentially, one after the other, it is a closed system. The chain may include microorganisms, fungi, insects, plants, animals. There is a clear distribution between them - one is food, the other is a consumer. Food chains, both animal and human, usually begin with plants.

Food chains can be made not only on and in soil, but also in water, in the sky, in the forest-steppe, and so on. It may also be that there is an association of different tiers, animals living on these tiers and plants growing on them. For example, an insect that lives on the soil is food for a bird that lives in the air, in the upper tier. That is, it is not necessary that the food chain consists of animals and plants from only one tier.

An example of food chains in soil

Above, we found out what a food chain is. In order to make examples of food chains in the soil, you need to find out who is the inhabitant of the soil, who can participate in these chains.

• Firstly, these are worms, larvae, insects.
• Secondly, these are various microorganisms, decayed plants, tree roots and other growing organisms.
• Thirdly, these are animals, such as a mole, a shrew, a bear and the like.

Knowing the inhabitants of the soil, we can already compose food chains. For example:

• decayed plant remains -> earthworms -> moles -> hedgehogs;
• plant root -> ant larva -> shrews;
• plant root -> beetle -> mole.

Thus, we have compiled three examples of a food chain in soil. Many more similar examples could be made.

All living organisms are active participants in the circulation of substances on the planet. Using oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts and other substances, living organisms feed, breathe, excrete products of activity, and multiply. After their death, their bodies decompose into the simplest substances and again return to the external environment.

The transfer of chemical elements from living organisms to environment and back does not stop for a second. So, plants (autotrophic organisms) take carbon dioxide, water and mineral salts from the external environment. In doing so, they create organic matter and release oxygen. Animals (heterotrophic organisms), on the contrary, inhale the oxygen released by plants, and eating plants, assimilate organic substances and release carbon dioxide and food residues. Fungi and bacteria use the remains of living organisms as food and turn organic substances into minerals that accumulate in soil and water. And minerals are again absorbed by plants. So in nature, a constant and endless cycle of substances is carried out and the continuity of life is maintained.

The cycle of matter and all the transformations associated with it require a constant supply of energy. The source of this energy is the sun.

On earth, plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Animals eat plants, passing carbon up the food chain, which we'll talk about in a moment. When plants and animals die, they transfer carbon back to the earth.

At the surface of the ocean, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves into the water. Phytoplankton absorb it for photosynthesis. Animals that eat plankton exhale carbon into the atmosphere and thus pass it along the food chain. After the death of phytoplankton, it can be processed in surface waters or settle to the bottom of the ocean. Over millions of years, this process has turned the ocean floor into a rich reservoir of carbon on the planet. Cold currents carry carbon to the surface. When water is heated, it is released as a gas and enters the atmosphere, continuing the cycle.

Water constantly makes a cycle between the seas, atmosphere and land. Under the rays of the sun, it evaporates and rises into the air. There, water droplets gather into clouds and clouds. They fall to the ground as rain, snow or hail, which turn back into water. Water soaks into the ground, returns to the seas, rivers and lakes. And everything starts over. This is how the water cycle works in nature.

Most of the water evaporates from the oceans. The water in it is salty, and the one that evaporates from its surface is fresh. Thus, the ocean is the global "factory" of fresh water, without which life on Earth is impossible.

THREE STATES OF MATTER. There are three aggregate states of matter - solid, liquid and gaseous. They depend on temperature and pressure. IN Everyday life we can observe water in all three of these states. Moisture evaporates and passes from a liquid state to a gaseous state, that is, water vapor. It condenses and turns into a liquid. At sub-zero temperatures, water freezes and turns into a solid state - ice.

The cycle of complex substances in wildlife includes food chains. This is a linear closed sequence in which each living being feeds on someone or something and itself serves as food for another organism. Within the pasture food chain, organic matter is created by autotrophic organisms such as plants. Plants are eaten by animals, which in turn are eaten by other animals. Decomposer fungi decompose organic remains and serve as the beginning of the detrital trophic chain.

Each link in the food chain is called a trophic level (from the Greek word "trophos" - "nutrition").
1. Producers, or manufacturers, produce organic substances from inorganic ones. Producers include plants and some bacteria.
2. Consumers, or consumers, consume ready-made organic substances. Consumers of the 1st order feed on producers. Consumers of the 2nd order feed on consumers of the 1st order. Consumers of the 3rd order feed on consumers of the 2nd order, etc.
3. Reducers, or destroyers, destroy, that is, mineralize organic substances to inorganic ones. Decomposers include bacteria and fungi.

DETRITE FOOD CHAINS. There are two main types of food chains - grazing (grazing chains) and detrital (decaying chains). The basis of the pasture food chain is made up of autotrophic organisms, which are eaten by animals. And in detrital trophic chains, most of the plants are not consumed by herbivores, but die off and then decompose by saprotrophic organisms (for example, earthworms) and mineralize. Thus, detrital trophic chains start from detritus, and then go to detritivores and their consumers - predators. On land, such chains predominate.

WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL PYRAMID? An ecological pyramid is a graphic representation of the ratio of different trophic levels in a food chain. The food chain cannot contain more than 5-6 links, because when moving to each next link, 90% of the energy is lost. The basic rule of the ecological pyramid is based on 10%. So, for example, to form 1 kg of mass, a dolphin needs to eat about 10 kg of fish, and they, in turn, need to eat 100 kg of food - aquatic vertebrates, which, in order to form such a mass, need to eat 1000 kg of algae and bacteria. If, on an appropriate scale, these quantities are depicted in the order of their dependence, then a kind of pyramid is indeed formed.

FOOD NETS. Often the interaction between living organisms in nature is more complex, and visually it looks like a network. Organisms, especially predators, can feed on a variety of creatures, and from different food chains. Thus, food chains intertwine to form food webs.