--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: food chain - the vitally important system…" description: "\"“food chain - the vitally important system by which matter from soil and air passes through plants and animals and back to soil and air. It is this sys..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/richard-m-ketchum-37369_chain_food-chain-the-vitally-important-system_3149554.jpg" --- # food chain - the vitally important system by which matter… ![“food chain - the vitally important system by which matter from soil and air passes through plants and animals and back to soil and air. It is this system upon which all life depends.” quote by Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/richard-m-ketchum-37369_chain_food-chain-the-vitally-important-system_3149554.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/richard-m-ketchum-37369_chain_food-chain-the-vitally-important-system_3149554.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/richard-m-ketchum-37369_chain_food-chain-the-vitally-important-system_3149554.jpg) > ““food chain - the vitally important system by which matter from soil and air passes through plants and animals and back to soil and air. It is this system upon which all life depends.”” [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The food chain links organisms, transferring energy and nutrients from soil and air through plants and animals, sustaining all life. **In simple terms:** All life depends on the flow of matter and energy through ecosystems. Key Takeaway Protect ecosystems to sustain life. Themes ecology interdependence energy flow Mood concerned hopeful Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - conservation - environmental policy - agriculture - education - climate action Key Concepts nutrient cycling food webs Questions to Reflect On - How can we reduce our impact on food webs? - What practices restore nutrient cycles? A Different Perspective Ecosystems are vulnerable to disruption from human activity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Food chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food-chain/) [Plants and animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plants-and-animals/) ## Related quotes > [The best opinion now is, that there are multitudinous forms which are not sufficiently differentiated to be distinctively either plant or animal, while, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-gray/the-best-opinion-now-is-that-there-are-multitudinous-forms-which-are/) [Asa Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-gray/) > [“God is not only something metaphysical, but also the physical world, the plants and animals, the mountains and rivers, the air and the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-anderson/god-is-not-only-something-metaphysical-but-also-the-physical-world/) [Jeffrey R. Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-anderson/) > [What a marvelous cooperative arrangement - plants and animals each inhaling each other's exhalations, a kind of planet-wide mutual mouth-to-stoma resuscitation, the entire elegant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-a-marvelous-cooperative-arrangement-plants-and-animals-each/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We ogle plants and animals up close on television, the Internet and in the movies. 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We...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-larson/we-judge-plants-and-animals-by-whether-they-re-entertaining-to-us-we/) [Gary Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-larson/) > [We need to preserve these sacred locations for ourselves, for the species of plants and animals that coexist in harmony there, and for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-need-to-preserve-these-sacred-locations-for-ourselves-for-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“There is no doubt that plants and animals have minds, emotions, feelings, and survival instincts. This means that we must also consider a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/there-is-no-doubt-that-plants-and-animals-have-minds-emotions/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [I think coexisting with another life form is a very rich experience. It's why people keep plants and animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-think-coexisting-with-another-life-form-is-a-very-rich-experience/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [“But if humans can make new varieties of plants and animals, must not nature do so also? This related process is called natural selection.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/but-if-humans-can-make-new-varieties-of-plants-and-animals-must-not/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Plants and animals repeat routine, but men who are not restrained will go into the future like explorers into a new country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-wilder-lane/plants-and-animals-repeat-routine-but-men-who-are-not-restrained-will/) [Rose Wilder Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-wilder-lane/) > [“Even plants and animals were mechanised. Around the time that Homo sapiens was elevated to divine status by humanist religions, farm animals stopped being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/even-plants-and-animals-were-mechanised-around-the-time-that-homo/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“The trees are a thousand times taller than me, and hundreds of years older, and the rocks and leaves and plants and animals never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stephenson/the-trees-are-a-thousand-times-taller-than-me-and-hundreds-of-years/) Ben Stephenson > [Once plants and animals were raised together on the same farm - which therefore neither produced unmanageable surpluses of manure, to be wasted and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/once-plants-and-animals-were-raised-together-on-the-same-farm-which/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Richard M. Ketchum > [“A year earlier, representatives of thirteen states had assembled in Philadelphia and declared their intention to form a more perfect union, but what had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/a-year-earlier-representatives-of-thirteen-states-had-assembled-in/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“The most important surviving relics of the primitive plants are mosses and ferns, which give us a clue to how ancient plants solved the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/the-most-important-surviving-relics-of-the-primitive-plants-are/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“We know a great deal more than the Greeks did about the forces of life. But with all our knowledge, no one fully comprehends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/we-know-a-great-deal-more-than-the-greeks-did-about-the-forces-of/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“By the time a tree is full-grown, the underground root system is enormous; a mature oak tree, for example, has literally hundreds of miles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/by-the-time-a-tree-is-full-grown-the-underground-root-system-is/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“The purpose was to insure that their regular pollinators - animals that would best serve the plant, not chance visitors that raided its pollen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/the-purpose-was-to-insure-that-their-regular-pollinators-animals-that/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“The first forests about which anything is known were made up of the simplest kinds of plants, all of them spore-produced - horsetails, club…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/the-first-forests-about-which-anything-is-known-were-made-up-of-the/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“Our people are not calculated to be confined in garrisons or kept in any particular service; they soon grow troublesome and uneasy by reflecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/our-people-are-not-calculated-to-be-confined-in-garrisons-or-kept-in/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“Photosynthesis, the activity that ultimately makes all life possible, permits plants to trap energy from the sun and store it in the form of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/photosynthesis-the-activity-that-ultimately-makes-all-life-possible/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“To understand how the first tree appeared on Earth, we must look back more than 3 billion years to Earth’s cooling off and changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/to-understand-how-the-first-tree-appeared-on-earth-we-must-look-back/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“In their urge for survival, the seed-bearing trees hit upon countless different devices for carrying pollen from one flower to another, but essentially the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/in-their-urge-for-survival-the-seed-bearing-trees-hit-upon-countless/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) > [“A plant has been defined as a living thing that absorbs in microscopic amounts over its surface all that it needs for growth. Through”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-ketchum/a-plant-has-been-defined-as-a-living-thing-that-absorbs-in/) [Richard M. Ketchum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) [Explore all 12 Richard M. Ketchum quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-ketchum/) ## More Chain quotes > [If you take away the predators in the prairies and the national parks, you suddenly have an explosion of elk, and then you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/if-you-take-away-the-predators-in-the-prairies-and-the-national-parks/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [With the very rapid expansion of distribution platforms, we want to be in the supply chain with as many types of programs as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haim-saban/with-the-very-rapid-expansion-of-distribution-platforms-we-want-to-be/) [Haim Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haim-saban/) > [A film is a chain of very difficult decisions, and I think one of them is to choose an accurate cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-camara/a-film-is-a-chain-of-very-difficult-decisions-and-i-think-one-of-them/) [Javier Camara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-camara/) > [I'm the top of the food chain and well...you're the food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-m-the-top-of-the-food-chain-and-well-you-re-the-food/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed critical vulnerabilities in our pharmaceutical supply chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-spanberger/the-covid-19-pandemic-has-exposed-critical-vulnerabilities-in-our/) [Abigail Spanberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-spanberger/) > [What I've been developing is a vegan fast food chain and vegan food markets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-mills/what-i-ve-been-developing-is-a-vegan-fast-food-chain-and-vegan-food/) [Heather Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-mills/) > [“Where are the links of the chain ... joining us to the past?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-dunnett/where-are-the-links-of-the-chain-joining-us-to-the-past/) [Dorothy Dunnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-dunnett/) > [By 2023, we will be the world's largest hotel chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritesh-agarwal/by-2023-we-will-be-the-world-s-largest-hotel-chain/) [Ritesh Agarwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritesh-agarwal/) > [Without sharks, you take away the apex predator of the ocean, and you destroy the entire food chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-benchley/without-sharks-you-take-away-the-apex-predator-of-the-ocean-and-you/) [Peter Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-benchley/) > [One link in a chain explains the infinite chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/one-link-in-a-chain-explains-the-infinite-chain/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Content not thyself that thou art virtuous in the general; for one link being wanting, the chain is defective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/content-not-thyself-that-thou-art-virtuous-in-the-general-for-one/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [There's a weak link in every chain. And it's just a matter of time before this one snaps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gossip-girl/there-s-a-weak-link-in-every-chain-and-it-s-just-a-matter-of-time/) [Gossip Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gossip-girl/) > [I'm telling the story, and if I can't tell the story, I'm not going to sing it. And if I don't agree with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-jones/i-m-telling-the-story-and-if-i-can-t-tell-the-story-i-m-not-going-to/) [Sharon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-jones/) > [A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and if one of the team cannot handle the forces, everybody is going to suffer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-fortune/a-chain-is-no-stronger-than-its-weakest-link-and-if-one-of-the-team/) [Dion Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-fortune/) > [“The chain of command, I wear it around my neck.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-chain-of-command-i-wear-it-around-my-neck/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) Browse all 236 Chain quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“food chain - the vitally important system by which matter from soil and air passes through plants and animals and back to soil and air. 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