The trophic chain is a food relationship.level between different macro-and microorganisms through which the transformation of energy and matter takes place in ecosystems. All plant, animal and microscopic organisms are closely interconnected according to the principle “food - consumer”.
The trophic chain is one of the most significant.properties of any ecosystem. This is a food chain. It shows a certain horizontal sequence of species. At the same time, movement in the ecosystem is reflected in the process of feeding on biochemical energy and organic substances. For example: grass - hare - wolf - bacteria. As a rule, at the top of the trophic pyramid is a large predator. The term itself is a derivative of the Greek word "trophy", which means "food." Before you deal with the fact that such a food chain, you need to consider such concepts as producers, consumers and decomposers.
Producers call a group of organisms thatable to synthesize complex organic substances from mineral compounds. These include, first of all, autotrophs. These are plants and microscopic algae, which are able by photosynthesis to convert external solar energy into biochemical. It accumulates in the cells and is involved in metabolism. In ecosystems, examples of producers are fern, mosses, gymnosperms and flowering plants. In the ocean it is plankton. The smallest green algae is an example of the producers of all aquatic ecosystems.
Consuments are different types of organisms,feeding exclusively on organic matter, which is synthesized by producers. In an ecosystem, heterotrophs are called consumers. It can be carnivores and herbivores, insects. There are different kinds of consuments. This division is based on the position of the organisms in the food chain.
Constuments of the 1st order includeherbivorous animals, insects and birds. For example, the food chain of a forest may include a hare, a mouse, a roe, or an elk. All of these animals are first order constuctions. Their distinguishing feature is that they eat the producers, that is, the plants. This is mainly rodents, ungulates, snakes, lizards and various amphibians, as well as insects, fish, small birds.
Consuments of the 2nd and subsequent orders areexclusively predatory species. They build their proteins from organic material of animal and plant origin. This group includes bears, canine, feline, large birds of prey, reptiles and snakes. Whales and dolphins occupy this niche in the ocean ecosystem.
Reducers are called recycling organicmicroorganism residues. These are bacteria and fungi. They live in the soil and activate the processes of decay. The term “destructors” is a synonym for the word “decomposers”. At present, bacteriophages are also added to this group.
There are only two main types of food chains:detrital and grazing. They have significant differences. The pasture food chain (or the chain of eating) is built on the complex interrelationships of various groups of plants, animals, and saprophytes. It is based on autotrophic organisms. This is primarily a plant. Then go herbivorous animals. For example, ungulates or rodents. In the oceans and seas, it can be zooplankton. And finally, on the top of the food chain are predators of the 2nd order. These are species that are not hunted in natural conditions. For example, bears, representatives of the cat family, birds of prey. Especially long pasture food chains in the oceans. Here are found the consumers of the 6th and 7th order.
Detritic trophic chains are based on decomposition processes. They always involve fungi or microorganisms, saprophytes.
Такие цепи разложения наиболее распространены в forests, as well as where most of the plant mass is not consumed directly by herbivorous animals. But at the same time it disappears. It is processed by microscopic fungi and bacteria, which are called saprophytes. All detrital food trophic chains always begin with detritus. They are continued by microorganisms that destroy and utilize them. Then go detritofagi and their consumers - predatory species. In the ecosystems of the seas and the ocean, especially at great depths, detrital chains also prevail. Here conditions are created under which a large number of predators do not survive, therefore microorganisms take their place.
The trophic chain consists of several levels.These links can be easily found in any ecosystem of the planet. The first level is always represented by producers. The second is a lot of different order. In short chains, as a rule, there are three links; in long chains their number is not limited. But the last will always be microorganisms and fungi. Any trophic food chain ends with redudents. Their main function in various ecosystems is the utilization of organic matter to mineral compounds. The longest trophic food chains are formed in the oceans and seas. The shortest of them - in the woods and meadows. Such an interconnected series of successive trophic levels forms the food chain.
It is very important to clarify that the trophic chainfood is not always complete. It may be missing some links. Sometimes they “fall out” for one reason or another. First, plants - producers are not always present in the chain. They are absent in those communities that were formed on the basis of the decay of plant and (or) animal residues. A vivid example of this is the foliage in the forests. Secondly, there may be no heterotrophs in trophic chains, that is, animals. Or they may be small. For example, in the same forests, falling fruits and branches, bypassing the consuments, immediately begin to decompose. In this case, the producers are immediately followed by decomposers. Trophic chains are formed in each ecosystem based on environmental conditions. Under certain conditions, especially on the part of a person, these chains can grow or, as it happens more often, shrink due to the disappearance of certain links.
The trophic chain, depending on whetherhow many links it consists of can be simple and multi-level. An example of a simple complete chain in which producers, consumers and decomposers are present may look like this: aspen - beaver - bacteria.
Complex trophic chains contain morenumber of links. But usually their number does not exceed 6-7 in existing natural ecosystems. Such long chains can be found in the seas and oceans. In the rest of the real ecosystem, links are usually 5. There are several examples of how to make a food chain for different habitats:
1. Algae - roach - perch - burbot - bacteria.
2. Plankton - coral - pomacentrovye fish - white shark - bacteria.
3. Grass - grasshopper - frog - too - a falcon.
All these are examples of pasture chains of predators.But there are other types of relationships. For example, chains of parasites. They look like this: grass - cow - tapeworm - bacteria. Sometimes the consumers may fall out of the chain: currant - flour-like mushroom - phage. The pasture food chain differs from the parasitic one in that the size of the predators in them increases as the level of the sequence of the link increases. But in the role of decomposers, there are still saprophytes in both cases. The detrital chains look slightly different: leaf litter - microscopic mold fungi - bacteria.
