Trophic Level

1. Trophic Level • A way of categorizing living organisms according to how they gain their energy • The first trophic level would be producers and each higher level would contain heterotrophs

2. Primary consumer • An organism that relies directly on producers or autotrophs for its source of energy • They are found in the second trophic level • Example: rabbit, deer, moose

3. Secondary consumer • An organism that relies directly on primary consumers for its source of energy • They are found in the third trophic level Example: fox, pine marten

4. Tertiary consumer

5. Decomposer • An organism that feed on detrius, in the process releasing nutrients to the soil and water • Example: vulture, fungi, bacteria

6. Food web • A diagram showing the connections among everything that organisms in a location eat and are eaten by. A food web is more complex than a food chain, by showing more connections.

8. Food chain • A step by step sequence linking organisms that feed on each other, starting with a food source such as a producer

9. Producer/autotroph • An organism that uses energy and raw materials to make its own food, whether from photosynthesis or chemosynthesis

10. Consumer/heterotroph • An organism that must eat producers or other consumers to survive

11. Herbivore • An animal that eats plants

12. Carnivore • An animals that feeds on other animals

13. Omnivore • An animal that eats both plants and animals