Question

What would be an example of a food chain in a rainforest?

Answer 1

A rainforest is an area of tall and evergreen trees. This area receives a huge amount of rainfall as a result of which a large number of species of plants and animals are found here as compared to any other terrestrial ecosystem.

Complete answer:
A food chain is the sequence of transfer of matter and energy. This transfer is in the form of food. In this one organism is dependent on the other for food. The food chain tells us which organism eats what and is eaten by which organism. A food chain contains producers which are being eaten up by primary consumers or the herbivores, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, decomposers.

Let us discuss the food chain in rainforest ecosystem:
- The producers are the photosynthetic plants which can produce food. In this type of ecosystem, the large evergreen trees are the producers.
- The primary consumers are the herbivores which feed on the producers. This includes birds, monkeys etc.
-The secondary consumers are the carnivores which feed on the primary consumers or the herbivores. -These include birds of prey like eagle hawks.
- Apex predators- They occupy the top position in the food chain. It includes animals like anacondas, crocodiles, jaguars.

The food chain in the rainforest ecosystem can be represented as:

Note: In a food chain the producers have the maximum amount of energy. This energy decreases as it moves from one trophic level to another. Only 10% of the net energy is transferred to the next trophic level. Each trophic level is important in a food chain.