Very good points. Food chains are simply models used to document how nutrients flow through an Eco-system. As an undergrad biologist we studied the concept and and how they could be applied e.g. how pesticides build up in mammals that eat insects or how dioxin can build up in humans as its absorbed by crops etc. And like all models their accuracy, and how comprehensive they are really depends on the purpiose they are brining used for.
So where do we fit in the food chain? Well it depends on your perspective and where you start, we are just as much a source of food for insects, worms, bacteria, parasites etc etc as we are for sharks, bears or lions. And whilst it’s nice to think we sit at the top as we can and do eat lots of other top predators, it’s probably more accurate to think of it as a circular flow with our corpse forming the base of a whole new cycle as it rots and is eaten away in the ground…
