A linear sequence showing how energy and nutrients pass from one organism to another through feeding relationships, typically starting with producers and ending with top predators. It represents a simplified pathway of energy flow in an ecosystem.
From Old English 'fōda' (food) and Old French 'chaine' (chain). The ecological concept was developed in the early 20th century to illustrate energy transfer in nature.
Real food chains rarely exist in nature because most animals eat multiple types of food! What we call a food chain is usually just one pathway extracted from a complex food web, like following a single thread in a tapestry.
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