food chain disruption
Food chain disruption is the breakdown of predator-prey relationships and energy transfer in an ecosystem.
When one species declines or disappears, effects cascade through connected populations—fewer wolves mean more deer, which means overgrazed vegetation.
Pesticide use caused food chain disruption that nearly wiped out bald eagles.
The term appears in environmental science and conservation discussions.
- ecosystemInterconnected organisms and surroundings
- ecological balanceStable ecosystem state
- collapseSudden structural failure
- predatorOrganism that consumes others
- apex predatorUnpreyed-upon dominant hunter
prey · bottom feeders · extinction · mass die-off · imbalance · overfishing · dead zone · apex · trophic · cascade · biodiversity · habitat · invasive · invasive species · species · decline · starvation · algae
- environmental harmair pollution, water pollution, pollution, oil spills, acid rain
- Eco-crisesclimate change, global warming, oil spill, deforestation, biodiversity loss
- extinction threatshabitat loss, climate change, poaching, overhunting, invasive species
- pollution effectsdead zones, fish kills, algal blooms, eutrophication, oxygen depletion
- wildlife threatsbiodiversity loss, extinction, habitat loss, poaching, species extinction
- ecological threatsbiodiversity loss, climate change, ecosystem collapse, extinction, habitat loss