AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -All food chains start with energy from the sun. This energy is captured by plants. Thus the living part of a food chain always starts with plant life and ends with an animal. Plants are called producers because they are able to use light energy from the sun to produce food (sugar) from carbon dioxide and water.

Detailed explanation-2: -In a food chain, there is a multidirectional flow of energy from the sun to producers, consumers, and decomposers. II. Shorter food chains provide more energy as compared to longer food chains.

Detailed explanation-3: -The food chain begins with a producer, which is eaten by a primary consumer. The primary consumer may be eaten by a secondary consumer, which in turn may be consumed by a tertiary consumer. The tertiary consumers may sometimes become prey to the top predators known as the quaternary consumers.