# data[].attributes.headline
Food ChainA food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or trees which use radiation from the Sun to make their food) and ending at apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivores (like earthworms or woodlice), or decomposer species (such as fungi or bacteria). A food chain also shows how the organisms are related with each other by the food they eat. Each level of a food chain represents a different trophic level. A food chain differs from a food web, because the complex network of different animals' feeding relations are aggregated and the chain only follows a direct, linear pathway of one animal at a time. Natural interconnections between food chains make it a food web. A common metric used to quantify food web trophic structure is food chain length. In its simplest form, the length of a chain is the number of links between a trophic consumer and the base of the web and the mean chain length of an entire web is the arithmetic average of the lengths of all chains in a food web.[1][2]Food chains were first introduced by the African-Arab scientist and philosopher Al-Jahiz in the 9th century and later popularized in a book published in 1927 by Charles Elton, which also introduced the food web concept.[3][4][5] 

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Food ChainA food chain is a linear network of links in a food web starting from producer organisms (such as grass or trees which use radiation from the Sun to make their food) and ending at apex predator species (like grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivores (like earthworms or woodlice), or decomposer species (such as fungi or bacteria). A food chain also shows how the organisms are related with each other by the food they eat. Each level of a food chain represents a different trophic level. A food chain differs from a food web, because the complex network of different animals' feeding relations are aggregated and the chain only follows a direct, linear pathway of one animal at a time. Natural interconnections between food chains make it a food web. A common metric used to quantify food web trophic structure is food chain length. In its simplest form, the length of a chain is the number of links between a trophic consumer and the base of the web and the mean chain length of an entire web is the arithmetic average of the lengths of all chains in a food web.[1][2]Food chains were first introduced by the African-Arab scientist and philosopher Al-Jahiz in the 9th century and later popularized in a book published in 1927 by Charles Elton, which also introduced the food web concept.[3][4][5] 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_chain https://www.google.com.hk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwia0IaRl_fZAhXHebwKHWp9BXsQjRx6BAgAEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.khanacademy.org%2Fscience%2Fbiology%2Fecology%2Fintro-to-ecosystems%2Fa%2Ffood-chains-food-webs&psig=AOvVaw2Ha1alVC81hdrOkudTwDT2&ust=1521507462340520

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All life needs energy. Whether living organisms make energy themselves or get it from the food they hunt, they need it to maintain and repair their bodies. Reproduction, hunting, growth, cell division, and metabolism are all processes that require energy.

The sun is the ultimate source of energy for life on Earth. Without it, nothing would be able to survive. As a result, living things have evolved special ways to harness the energy of the sun and use it for their own well-being. They have also developed special relationships and interactions that allow energy to be transferred. Once the energy has been captured, it gets passed around through the various organisms in a particular area. This transfer of energy is called a food web.

In their simplest form, food webs are made of food chains. Food chains show a direct transfer of energy between organisms. A chain might involve a mouse eating some seeds on the forest floor. Then, a snake comes along and eats the mouse. A while later, an owl eats the snake. With each step, some of the energy from the sun, which is trapped within the seeds, is getting passed on.

Food chains do not accurately portray the transfer of energy in an ecosystem. This is because there are often multiple organisms that can be eaten, and many that can do the eating. For example, the aforementioned mouse might eat seeds, but it also might eat some berries, or maybe even some grass. The mouse might be eaten by a snake, or the owl, or even a fox. The snake could be eaten be the owl, but also might get eaten by a fox or a coyote in the forest. Since each organism can eat multiple things and be eaten by multiple things, a food web is a much more realistic schematic of the transfer of energy within an ecosystem.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-food-web-definition-lesson-quiz.html

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About 50 species of cuckoos, including all of the subfamily Cuculinae (sometimes called “typical” cuckoos) and three species of the Neomorphinae, exhibit brood parasitism (that is, they lay their eggs in the nests of other species, which then rear the young cuckoos). Brood parasitism in the common ...

https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Parasitism

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The commensal—the species that benefits from the association—may obtain nutrients, shelter, support, or locomotion from the host species, which is unaffected. The commensal relation is often between a larger host and a smaller commensal. The host organism is essentially unchanged by the interaction, whereas the commensal species may show great morphological adaptation. This relationship can be contrasted with mutualism, in which both species benefit.https://www.britannica.com/science/commensalism

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utualism is the way two organisms of different species exist in a relationship in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other. Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. Mutualism can be contrasted with interspecific competition, in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and exploitation, or parasitism, in which one species benefits at the "expense" of the other. Symbiosis involves two species living in close proximity and includes relationships that are mutualistic, parasitic, and commensal. Symbiotic relationships are sometimes, but not always, mutualistic.

A well-known mutualism is the relationship between ungulates (such as bovines) and bacteria within their intestines. The ungulates benefit from the cellulase produced by the bacteria, which facilitates digestion; the bacteria benefit from having a stable supply of nutrients in the host environment. This can also be found in many different symbiotic relationships.

Mutualism plays a key part in ecology. For example, mutualistic interactions are vital for terrestrial ecosystem function as more than 48% of land plants rely on mycorrhizal relationships with fungi to provide them with inorganic compounds and trace elements. In addition, mutualism is thought to have driven the evolution of much of the biological diversity we see, such as flower forms (important for pollination mutualisms) and co-evolution between groups of species.[1] However mutualism has historically received less attention than other interactions such as predationand parasitism.[2][3]

Measuring the exact fitness benefit to the individuals in a mutualistic relationship is not always straightforward, particularly when the individuals can receive benefits from a variety of species, for example most plant-pollinator mutualisms. It is therefore common to categorise mutualisms according to the closeness of the association, using terms such as obligate and facultative. Defining "closeness", however, is also problematic. It can refer to mutual dependency (the species cannot live without one another) or the biological intimacy of the relationship in relation to physical closeness (e.g., one species living within the tissues of the other species).[4]

The term mutualism was introduced by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden in his 1876 book Animal Parasites and Messmates.[5][6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_(biology)

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: the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms (as in parasitism or commensalism);  especially  : mutualism
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbiosis

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Decomposers are the last stop on the food chain, they eat the things no one else wants to. Decomposers many times eat dead things from the ground in order to get nutrients. The dead things that are eaten by decomposers are called detritus which means "garbage". Some of the most common decomposers are bacteria, worms, slugs, snails, and fungi like mushrooms.
http://citadel.sjfc.edu/students/naa07113/e-port/decomposers.html

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Autotrophs, shown in Figure below, store chemical energy in carbohydrate food molecules they build themselves. Food is chemical energy stored in organic molecules. Food provides both the energy to do work and the carbon to build bodies. Because most autotrophs transform sunlight to make food, we call the process they use photosynthesis. Only three groups of organisms - plants, algae, and some bacteria - are capable of this life-giving energy transformation. Autotrophs make food for their own use, but they make enough to support other life as well. Almost all other organisms depend absolutely on these three groups for the food they produce. The producers, as autotrophs are also known, begin food chains which feed all life. Food chains will be discussed in the "Food Chains and Food Webs" concept.

Heterotrophs cannot make their own food, so they must eat or absorb it. For this reason, heterotrophs are also known as consumers. Consumers include all animals and fungi and many protists and bacteria. They may consume autotrophs or other heterotrophs or organic molecules from other organisms. Heterotrophs show great diversity and may appear far more fascinating than producers. But heterotrophs are limited by our utter dependence on those autotrophs that originally made our food. If plants, algae, and autotrophic bacteria vanished from earth, animals, fungi, and other heterotrophs would soon disappear as well. All life requires a constant input of energy. Only autotrophs can transform that ultimate, solar source into the chemical energy in food that powers life, as shown in Figure below.
https://www.ck12.org/biology/Autotrophs-and-Heterotrophs/lesson/Autotrophs-and-Heterotrophs-BIO/

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utotrophs are the producers in a food chain, such as plants on land or algae in water. They are also referred to as the producers of the food chain. They are capable of manufacturing their own food by photosynthesis or by chemosynthesis. Thus, autotrophs may be photoautotrophs or chemoautotrophs
https://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Autotroph

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any class of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain, as primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/trophic-level?s=t

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the part of the earth's crust, waters, andatmosphere that supports life.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/biosphere?s=t

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a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/community?s=t

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the total number of persons inhabiting a country, city, or any district or area.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/population?s=t

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that is natural for the life and growth of an organism:

a tropical habitat.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/habitat?s=t

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a living thing, as an animal or plant, that influences or affects an ecosystem: How do humans affect other biotic factors?

Weather is not a biotic factor because it is not alive.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/biotic-factor

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a nonliving condition or thing, as climate or habitat, that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it:

Abiotic factors can determine which species of organisms will survive in a given environment.http://www.dictionary.com/browse/abiotic-factor

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an ornamental recess in a wall or the like, usuallysemicircular in plan and arched, as for a statue orother decorative object.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/niche?s=t

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A biome is a specific environment that's home to living things suited for that place and climate. A desert biome is great for a lizard, but a koala needs the leafy greens of a forest biome.
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/biome

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An ecosystem is all the plants and animals that live in a particular area together with the complex relationship that exists between them and their environment.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ecosystem