Detritus Food Chain
This food chain does not start from a plant, but starts from a detritivor. Detritivor is a heterotrophic organism that gets energy by eating the remains of living things.
Examples of detritus food chain cycles are: leaf flakes (garbage) ==> earthworms ==> chicken ==> humans.
Detritus is a fragment (broken) of organisms (animals and plants) that die and the remains of organisms such as animal waste, leaves, deciduous branches which are decomposed by decomposers (decomposers). Then which includes detritus-eating organisms are called detritivors, for example worms, termites, worms and so on.
Food webs
In an ecosystem generally not only consists of one food chain, but many food chains. Green plants are not only eaten by one organism, but can be eaten by a variety of primary consumers. For example: shoe flowers are eaten by caterpillars, caterpillars also eat mustard leaves. Mustard leaves are also eaten by grasshoppers, grasshoppers eaten by frogs and sparrows, sparrows also eat caterpillars, sparrows are eaten by eagles.
Food-chain-grazing
Other Examples: In the picture above, it is known that grass that is autotrophic acts as a producer, then eaten by grasshoppers, then grasshoppers are eaten by lizards and finally lizards are eaten by eagles.
In figure (c), grass as producers is eaten by grasshoppers as the first consumer, grasshoppers are eaten by frogs as second consumers, frogs are eaten by snakes as third consumers, and snakes are eaten by eagles as fourth consumers. Furthermore, if the eagle dies, the carcass will be eaten by other organisms and broken down by decomposing bacteria.
Food-detritus chain
The flow of the detritus food chain can be seen in the following figure: Figure 2. Example of the detritus food chain.
In the picture above, it is known that detritus can be in the form of destruction of animal or plant tissue. In figure (a), detritus in the form of the rest of animal tissue is eaten by caterpillars and then rats, snakes and birds. But in the end, all these organisms can become detritus as well. Whereas in picture (b), detritus in the form of broken down plants is eaten by woodlice which is then eaten by birds.
Parasite food chain
Parasites are a term for organisms that live by harming other organisms (host). Characteristic of this type of food chain is that there are small organisms that prey on large organisms.
Consider the following parasitic food chain example. buffalo (blood) -> fleas ==> starlings ==> eagle
Saprofit food chain
The characteristics of the saprophytic chain begin with the decomposition of the dead bodies of living things by saprophytic organisms. Examples of saprophytic organisms are bacteria, fungi, and lichens. Saprofit is a term for organisms that are able to break down the remains of organisms that have died.
Saprophyte organisms are different from detritifors. Saprofit decomposes organic matter left over dead bodies into inorganic materials (minerals) that are absorbed again by plants. Pay attention to the following sample food chain saprofit. Weathered wood -> fungus -> chicken -> fox