Which term describes the sum of all feeding relationships in an ecosystem?

• A. Food chain
• B. Food web
• C. Nutrient pool
• D. Decomposition network

Answer: (B)

Understanding how energy moves through a community through feeding relationships is best captured by a food web. A food web maps all who eats whom in an ecosystem, creating a network of many interconnected pathways. This reflects real ecosystems where organisms eat multiple species and energy can flow along several routes, not just a single chain. A food chain shows only one linear path and is a simplification. A nutrient pool describes the amount of essential nutrients in the environment, not the feeding ties between organisms. A decomposition network refers to decomposition processes, not the complete set of feeding relationships.