Question

What does a food chain represent? “The number of trophic levels in a food chain is limited.” Give an example stating reason to justify this statement.

Answer 1

Food chain representation: A food chain represents a linear sequence of organisms where each organism feeds on the one below it. It shows the flow of energy and nutrients in an ecosystem.

Limited trophic levels: The number of trophic levels in a food chain is limited because energy is lost at each trophic level. Only about 10% of the energy available at one trophic level is transferred to the next level. The rest is used for metabolic processes, lost as heat, or not consumed. After several trophic levels, so little energy remains that it cannot support a larger population at higher levels.

Example: A simple food chain might be: Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle. There is not typically another trophic level above the eagle. If there were, the energy available would be too low to support a viable population at that level.