A food chain has six elements; not all of them are always present. They have a producer, like algae, a herbivore primary consumer, like shrimps, an omnivore secondary consumer, like killifish, a carnivore tertiary consumer, like catfish, another carnivore tertiary consumer, like alligators, and a decomposer like a fungus.
Food chains are essential for the ecosystem and the survival of species. Each consumer depends on another animal or plant to survive. It is from where they obtain their nourishment.
1. a food chain that connects the algae to the alligator is algae, shrimp, killifish, catfish, alligator.
A food chain from the salt meadows to the alligator is the salt meadow, muskrat, alligator.
2. Primary producers are the ones that produce their food. They are plants. Even though alligators do not eat plants, primary producers ae an indirect energy supply for them since a primary consumer and then a secondary consumer eats it. Without the primary producer, the alligator would not have a secondary consumer that supplies the energy.
3. Decomposers are at the end of the diagram. They will process the rest of the animal that the alligator ate, giving the necessary nutrients to the soil where plants grow.
In conclusion, all elements in the food chain are necessary since they benefit directly or indirectly from the previous consumers.
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