Ecology is the interrelationships among organisms and their interaction to their environment.

Energy in the community

of organisms is passed

from one to another as

food.

This way of describing the flow

of energy in a community through

food is known as FOOD CHAIN.

It is a food relationship where

an organism is consumed by

another organisms.

Grass

Grasshopper

Mouse

Hawk

An illustration of a FOOD CHAIN

Worm

In nature, many different food chains occur in a community or ecosystem. They connect and overlap to form a network of food chains called food web. FOOD WEB is a model of overlapping food chains in area. It illustrates the complex relationships among organisms living in the area.

Food webs show how the same source of food maybe part of several different food chains. They can also show different organisms that feed on the same level in a certain community or ecosystem. In the next figure, the flow of energy branches in many different directions. In contrast, the flow of energy in a food chain comes only in a linear direction.

An illustration of a FOOD WEB