FoodChainLengthDependsOnSizeOfPond Home Main TMP Project Talk Chapter Gov Net GIG Know TMP . They have determined that the length of a food chain is determined by the size of the lake.
Larger lakes produce longer food chains.
This is interesting since it has long been believed that the amount of available energy is the determiner of food chain length. This study has determined that this isn't the case. It has not yet been determined what the size of a pond has to do with food chain length or why this causes the limitation. It is also believed that this effect may occur in land based ecosystems and may explain why larger forests support much greater diversity than smaller, fragmented forests. It has been determined however, that fish from larger lakes, and thus longer food chains have higher concentrations of contaminants and may pose a danger to a person's health.