Page 81 - Viva ICSE Science 5 : E-book

for the growth of plants. In the absence of decomposers, the Did You Know!
soil would not get the nutrients required by the producers When decomposers act
(plants). on the waste and dead
matter they break them
Thus, these living beings categorised as producers, consumers into simpler substances.
and decomposers are interdependent for their survival on This process is called

earth. decomposition.

Food Chain

If we can observe the interdependence among living beings, we can also observe food
chain. Food chain is formed by a series of organisms in which one organism depends

on another for food. It starts with the producers, i.e., plants. Plants produce food and are
being eaten by animals, who are further eaten by bigger animals. Decomposers are the
last stage of food chain.

Some examples of food chain

• Fish feed on sea weeds. Man eats fi sh.

• Another interesting food chain.

Corn is eaten by rat. Rat is eaten by snake and snake is eaten by eagle.

• On a larger scale, we can observe interdependence of producers, consumers and
decomposers in a food chain.

producer

consumer (herbivore) consumer
(omnivore)
consumer (carnivore)

environment
decomposer

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