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Definition: food chain from Dictionary of Energy

Ecology. the transfer of energy in a given ecosystem, moving through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms. A typical food chain begins with green plants (autotrophs) that derive their energy from sunlight, then continues with organisms that eat these plants (heterotrophs), then other organisms that consume the plant-eaters, then decomposers that break down the dead bodies of those organisms so that they can be used as soil nutrients by plants.

food chain

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In ecology, a sequence showing the feeding relationships between organisms in a habitat or ecosystem . It shows who eats whom. An organism in one food chain can belong to other food chains. This can be shown in a diagram called a food web . One of the most important aspects of food is that it provides energy for an organism. So a food chain shows where each organism gets its energy. The arrow in a food chain represents the direction of energy flow. Not all of the energy in all of the organisms at one step of a food chain is available to the organisms later in the chain. In general, fewer organisms are found at each step, or trophic level , of the chain. A pyramid of numbers shows this clearly. Some organisms may be small but very numerous, so population size may not be a good measure of how much of an organism there is in a habitat. Biomass – the total mass of organisms in an area – may be a more useful measure. Some food chains start with organisms that decompose the remains of dead…
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Full text Article food chain

From Library of Health and Living: The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health
The linkage of the feeding habits of animals to each other and to the plants they consume. As the ultimate consumer of foods, humans are at the top of the food chain. Livestock, which live on grain and grasses, are slaughtered for human consumption. Carnivorous food fish, like tuna, live on small…
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Full text Article food chain

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In ecology, a sequence showing the feeding relationships between organisms in a habitat or ecosystem . It shows who eats whom. An organism in one food chain can belong to other food chains. This can be shown in a diagram called a food web . One of the most important aspects of food is that it…
| 553 words
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Full text Article food chain (or food web)

From The Oxford Companion to Food
the natural succession in which one organism eats another and is in turn eaten. The first term is more usual but the second is more accurate, given that these sequences involve all living creatures in the world and are massively interrelated. The NSOED defines ‘food chain’ as ‘a series of organisms…
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Full text Article food chain

From Penguin Dictionary of Biology
A metaphorical chain of organisms, existing in any natural community, through which energy and matter are transferred. Each link in the chain feeds on, and hence obtains energy from, the one preceding it and is in turn eaten by and provides energy for the one succeeding it. Number of links in the…
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Full text Article food chain

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Sequence of transfer of matter and energy from organism to organism in the form of food. These interconnected feeding relationships intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume or are consumed by more than one other type of organism. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms…
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Full text Article Food Chain: Farm to Market

From Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems
An example of dairy food supply vs. food...
Abstract A food chain is a complex flow of goods, both locally and internationally. The chain is described as both a supply chain and a value chain. Numerous regulations mandated through intergovernmental organizations provide a framework for the market, but social input further raises these…
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Full text Article food chain

From The Penguin Dictionary of Science
A sequence of organisms linked by their interdependence for food, in which energy and mineral elements are transferred from one organism to the next. Food chains exist in all communities of organisms, and are crosslinked in complex food webs because many organisms eat more than one food. At the…
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Full text Article food chain

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
food chain marine food chain diagram Precision...
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Full text Article food chain

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
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Full text Article food chain

From The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine
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