- A food chain is a sequence of organisms where each one is eaten by the next.
- Each time an organism is eaten, the matter and energy it contains passes to the organism that eats it.
- Many types of bacteria and fungi are decomposers.
- Bacteria and fungi break down dead matter and make it available for other living organisms to use.
Predators and Prey
- A predator is an organism that hunts and kills another organism for food.
- The prey is the organism that is hunted.
Energy transfer in a food chain
- In a food chain there are usually a lot of organisms at the start of the chain and very few at the end.
- This is because only 10% of the total available energy is passed on to the organisms at the next stage.
- The other 90% is used for activities such as movement and respiration, or is released as heat.