Food webs and food chains depict how living things on earth get their food. There are four main parts of food webs and food chains. They are Sun, Producer, Consumer and decomposer. All the living organisms on the earth need energy to live. Like plant takes energy from the sun, some animals eat plant while some animal eat animal.
All the living beings on the earth depend on each other for energy and food. They depict the relationship of how the energy transforms from one living being to another living being.
Food webs and food chains can be defined as the series of who eat whom to obtain nutrition. Sun is the main source of energy. Solar energy supports the food webs and food chain on the earth. Producers are the green plants. They make their own food from the energy they get from the sun. The process of obtaining and harnessing the energy from the sun is called Photosynthesis. Every organism on this earth is dependent on the plants for oxygen. These producers are also called Autotrophs.
Consumers are the organisms that consume anything. For example, cow eating grass. These include herbivorous organisms, carnivorous organisms, parasites and scavengers. Herbivorous are those organisms that eat plants, for example, rabbit eating carrot. Carnivorous are the organisms that eat other organisms, like, lion eating deer. Organisms that live off by harming other animals are called parasites. Organisms who eat carcasses of dead animals are known as Scavengers, for example, Vulture.
Bacteria and fungi are the major decomposers because they convert the decomposed matter into gases like nitrogen and carbon, which are released back into the atmosphere. Saprophytes are the organisms that break down the dead matter, for example, Fungi.
Activities of human beings have put the food webs and food chains in danger.
Next time you eat fish, carrot, hotdog or pastry, wait for a second and think about food webs and food chains. Where do you see yourself? Food chain reflects the feeding relationship that you share with the environment. The position that an organism occupies in the food chain is called trophic levels. For example, a chicken ate the grain and you ate the chicken.
The development of science and technology has its own positives and negatives. The humans have the power to transform the environment both to the advantage and to disadvantage. Today we have large no. of man made harms in different parts of the world due to plastic.
Bottles, cans, cartons, net toothbrushes, cigarettes, ropes, jars, polybags, toys, lighters, razors etc. are swirling over what was once a pristine sea. Men have polluted the sea. Everyday gallons of polluted water and tons of plastic are released in sea. The aquatic life is on the verge of extinction.
Many countries have banned the use of plastic bags but more is to be done to save the food webs and food chains from the clutches of the unlimited wants of human desire.