What makes a food chain efficient?

What makes a food chain efficient?

Food chain efficiency (FCE), defined as the proportion of energy fixed by primary producers that is transferred to the top trophic level, depends on the ecological efficiencies at each trophic coupling (1). Ecological efficiencies often depend on food-quality attributes such as edibility and nutritional quality.

Are longer or shorter food chains more energy efficient?

A shorter food chain means more energy available to the final consumer because less energy is lost to the surroundings. Therefore, a shorter food chain is more efficient than a longer food chain.

Why the length and complexity of food chains vary greatly?

The length and complexity of food chains vary greatly. Each organism is generally eaten by two or more other kinds of organisms which in turn are eaten by several other organisms.

Why do food chains have low ecological efficiency?

Energy decreases as it moves up trophic levels because energy is lost as metabolic heat when the organisms from one trophic level are consumed by organisms from the next level.

What restricts the length of a food chain?

Energy losses between trophic levels restrict the length of food chains and the biomass of higher trophic levels.

What are the two hypotheses that explain the length of food chains which one is better supported by the evidence?

the energetic hypothesis suggest that the length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain, while the dynamic stability hypothesis proposes that long food chains are less stable than short chains.

Which food chain is more efficient?

Short food chains are more efficient than long ones in providing energy to the top consumer. Below are two food chains and energy values for each level in them. Both food chains have a human being as the top consumer. Ten times more energy is available to the human in the second food chain than in the first.

Why the food chain is responsible for the entry of harmful chemicals in our body?

Through Biomagnification, harmful chemicals that are not metabolised by our body pass into the food chain, irrespective of the length and complexity of the food chain, which may vary in nature.

Does food chain is responsible for the entry of harmful chemicals in our body?

“Assertion: Food chain is responsible for the entry of harmful chemicals in our bodies. Reason: The length and complexity of food chains vary greatly.” by Biology experts to help you in doubts & scoring excellent marks in Class 10 exams. Both A and R are true, and R is correct explanation of the assertion.

Why is the length of the food chain important?

Food chain length is important because the amount of energy transferred decreases as trophic level increases; generally only ten percent of the total energy at one trophic level is passed to the next, as the remainder is used in the metabolic process. There are usually no more than five tropic levels in a food chain.

Why is energy transfer in a food chain inefficient?

Energy transfer between trophic levels is inefficient—with a typical efficiency around 10%. This inefficiency limits the length of food chains. Organisms of different species can interact in many ways.

What is the maximum efficiency of the food chain?

Maximum food-chain efficiency (gross ecological efficiency) occurs when the yield of prey to the predator is such that the surviving prey just consume all the available food: this implies that the food of the prey is being exploited to the best advantage by the predator. From: food-chain efficiency in A Dictionary of Zoology »

How are food chains different from food webs?

In a food chain, each organism occupies a different trophic level, defined by how many energy transfers separate it from the basic input of the chain. Food webs consist of many interconnected food chains and are more realistic representation of consumption relationships in ecosystems.