What is the food chain?

A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, from lower to higher trophic levels. It typically starts with a primary producer (a plant), followed by a primary consumer (an animal that eats plants), a secondary consumer (an animal that eats other animals), and so on, up to the top predator. Each organism in a food chain gets its energy from the organism below it, and provides energy to the organism above it.

For example, in a simple grassland ecosystem, the food chain might look like this:

Grass → Grasshopper → Snake → Hawk

The grass is the primary producer, the grasshopper is the primary consumer, the snake is the secondary consumer, and the hawk is the top predator.

Food chains are important because they help to illustrate the flow of energy and matter through an ecosystem. They also show how different organisms are interconnected and how changes in one part of the food chain can affect other parts.