Links of the chain
Each part of the food chain is called a link and each link has a name:
Producers: plants are producers. They are the ones that make energy. Plants produce energy from water, carbon dioxide and sunlight through a process called photosynthesis.
Consumers: animals are consumers. They don’t make energy. They use energy by running, hunting, breathing, etc.
Animals that eat plants are called primary consumers or herbivores. Animals that eat other animals are called secondary consumers or carnivores. Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers.
Some animals eat plants and animals, they’re called omnivores.
Animals that eat dead animals are called scavengers.
Decomposers: decomposers eat dead things like dead plants and dead animals and break them down into nutrients. The nutrients are returned to the soil. Worms, bacteria and fungi are decomposers.
All the links are important. Even though snakes don’t eat plants, they eat mice which eat plants. Without plants, there would be no mice for snakes to eat.
Energy is lost
The producers (plants) are the only ones that make energy. This energy gets passed on when something eats the plant. As you move through the food chain there is less and less energy because each animal uses energy. A food chain can’t be too long because there will soon be no energy to pass on. This is why there are fewer consumers than producers.
Food web
Plants and animals can be food for many different animals, so the same plants and animals can be part of many food chains. When you draw all the chains together you end up with a food web.
Trophic levels
The position of each species in the food chain is called a trophic level. The same animal can occupy different trophic levels in different food chains.
Level 1: is made up of the producers (plants).
Level 2: is made up of primary consumers (herbivores).
Level 3: is made up of secondary consumers (carnivores).
Level 4: is made up of tertiary consumers (animals that eat carnivores).
Level 5: is the top level. It is made up of apex predators. Nothing eats these animals.
The number of trophic levels is the same as the number of species in the food chain.
