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Food chains are important because lets say an insect species goes extinct, the birds that eat it will go extinct, then the animals that eat the birds will go extinct, and it causes a chain reaction.

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14y ago
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11y ago

The food chain means that the ultimate source of the energy humans get from food comes from the sun (as opposed to other energy sources like radioactivity or hydrothermal vents). Sunlight is converted to a consumable form (ATP) by plants and some algae through photosynthesis. Animals that eat these may be eaten by larger animals which creates a chain which roots back to the original source, the sun. Generally when you eat the plants available at the grocery these are the the original converters of the sunlight. When you eat farm animals those animals may have eaten corn, grass or grain that collected the sun energy. When you eat fish that fish may be the last in a food chain that may include many different animals as the sea algae may have been eaten by krill which may in turn have been eaten by a small fish which may have been eaten by a larger fish that was then eaten by the salmon or tuna you might are now eat.

Along the chain other elements may enter this chain including water and any chemicals, nutrients or other elements it may contain. Larger fish collect and may hold Mercury from the smaller fish it eats (rather than excreting it thus becoming a sink for such poisons). Farm animals may hold in their fat components of pesticides contained in the feed they eat. Fruits and vegetables may include bacteria or pesticides they are exposed to. The chain is the span between the sun and your cells when you eat. Many factors may effect your body from the amount of fat and fiber to residual amounts of chemicals and elements that are picked up along the chain.

Some diseases including many types of cancer have been linked to exposure to certain chemicals that may have entered the food chain. Some bacteria that make people sick can be introduced along the food chain (through processing rather than as consumed as feed). Some diseases are related to an excess of certain types of food or out of balance with other types. All of these may be concerns rated to the food chain.

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13y ago

Well food chains are really important. Like, the first food chain is grass. Then the cricket eats the grass, the snake eats the cricket, the snake gets eaten by a hawk. And so on. Food chains are important, if the grass popultation died out so will the crickets. Then the snake population will decrease due to decrease of crickets for food. Then Hawks would die due to decrease of snakes for food. You see food chains are really important. It has effects or other populations just because one population died out. Then it will spread. That is how important a food chain is.

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10y ago

it is useful for nature because it helps energy transferring go from organism to organism and on 10% is transferred to that animal (which is 1 energy unit).

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12y ago

its important so different species can survive coz things like tigers need to eat deer, which need to eat grass/weeds/things like that

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Q: Why is a food chain important for the environment?
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