Could there be a food chain without herbivores and carnivores?

Yes, there could be.

First, we may wonder, what is a food chain? In simple words, as the name implies it is a description of how food nutrients is been, produced, extracted, and transferred in a particular environment by the various living organisms living together which are classified under the same category.

A typical food chain could consist of all or some of the following:

Note, herbivores refers to organisms (eg such as birds) eating plants (the producers), while carnivores refer to animals (eg such as lion) in the food chain that eats other animals.

It is very possible for plants (producers) to transfer nutrients to the next cycle (the decomposers) without been eaten by the consumers because these plants died naturally. Hence, based on this analogy, there be a food chain without herbivores and carnivores.

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