Al

l organisms, dead or alive, are potential food sources for other organisms.

Organisms in an ecological community are related to each other through their dependence on other organisms for food.

In a food chain a producer is eaten by a herbivore that is in turn eaten by a carnivore.

Food chains are channels for the oneway flow of solar energy.

Food chains are also pathways for the recycling of nutrients.

Autotrophs are always found at the first trophic level.

Each step in a food chain involves a transfer of matter and energy from one organism to another.

At each level the organisms waste much energy in the form of heat generated by normal activity.

Energy spreads out through the food chain, from the lowest trophic level to the highest.

Food chains contain both strong and weak links.