A food chain follows one feeding path; a web joins several paths together. Follow the arrow from a leaf to a caterpillar: material and chemical energy can pass to the caterpillar when it eats. A bird eating that caterpillar adds another link. The bird may also have other food, so the web gives more information than one chain.
Plants, animals and ecosystems · Discover & try
Why is a food web more than one chain?
Reading level 2 of 5 · DevelopingChange
Word help
producer
An organism that forms organic material using an energy source.
consumer
An organism that obtains material and energy by consuming other material.
Watch · Try · Explain
See how it works
The interactive activity is loading.
Selected illustrative feeding links, not complete local diets, equal energy flows or population predictions.
What to look for
- Arrows point from food to eater
- One organism can have several links
- Indirect effects can have alternatives
Explain what you noticed
A new web shows grass → grasshopper → frog. What does the arrow from grasshopper to frog mean here?
Keep this idea: Read the arrow convention and follow more than one feeding route.
Follow the sources
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center — Terrestrial Food Webs
- Smithsonian Learning Lab — Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Source material checked 2026-10-28. Explanations and activities by Nepedia. Source links do not imply endorsement.
You’ve reached the end of this journey
Choose another journey →