Levels in a food web characterized by organisms which are the same number of steps removed from the primary producers of ecosystems (e.g., generally aquatic and terrestrial green plants comprise the first ropic level, and plant-eating organisms comprise the second.)
Classification of natural communities or organisms according to their place in the food chain.
Feeding levels in a food chain, such as producers, herbivores, and so on. Most food chains include a maximum of four or five trophic levels.
Successive stages of nourishment as represented by the links of the food chain. According to a grossly simplified scheme the primary producers (i.e., phytoplankton) constitute the first trophic level, herbivorous zooplankton the second trophic level, and carnivorous organisms the third trophic level.
The energy levels or steps in a food chain or food web, i.e., primary producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, and so forth.
The position of an organisms in the food chain (or food web).
a classification of organisms according to what they eat.