Question

Which of the following can be said as the food chain?
A.Large number of animals near a source of food
B.Transfer of food energy from the green plants through a series of consumer organisms
C.Large number of human beings forming a human chain near a source of food
D.None of the above

Answer 1

Food chain is a sequence of organisms feeding on each other passing on the energy and nutrients flow from one to the next. Each organism in the food chain occupies a different trophic level. 10% of energy is passed on with each level. The chain consists of producers and consumers, the former being the autotrophs that produce food by themselves while the latter being the heterotrophs that consume food by eating the former. The network of food chains in the ecosystem is called a food web.

Complete step by step answer: Option A- A large number of animals near a source of food.
Feeding off a source of food is not termed as a food chain.
Option B- Transfer of food energy from the green plants through a series of consumer organisms.
As explained above, the energy transfer occurs within a food chain from producers to consumers. It contains primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary and quaternary consumers.
Option C- A large number of human beings forming a human chain near a source of food
human beings are also a part of the food chain being a consumer of both plants and animals but alone it can not form food chains and the formation of the human chain around a food source is not a food chain.
Option D- None of the above. This option is wrong as option B is defining the food chain.
Thus, the correct option is option B- Transfer of food energy from the green plants through a series of consumer organisms.

Note: Primary producers form the base of the food chain which are autotrophic and photosynthetic like plants, algae, or cyanobacteria. A primary consumer consumes producers which are generally herbivores. Secondary consumers consume primary consumers which are generally carnivores while tertiary consuming secondary consumers. Quaternary forms apex and consume tertiary consumers. In this way, forms a food chain. A basic example of food chain: grass-grasshopper-frog-snake-eagle.