BIOC50H3 Chapter 20: chapter 20 book notes
Document Summary
Trophic interactions: by their feeding (their ecological roles are determined by what they eat and by what eats them). Trophic levels = feeding category and is based on the number of feeding steps by which it is separated from autotrophs. The first trophic level consists of autotrophs and detritus (primary procurers that generate chemical energy from sunlight or inorganic chemical compounds, and also generates most of the dead organic matter in an ecosystem). The second trophic level is composed of herbivores that consume the autotroph biomass as well as detritivores that consume the dead organic matter. The remaining trophic levels (third and up) contain carnivores that consume the animals at the trophic level below them. Most ecosystems have 4 or fewer tropic levels. Some organisms don"t fit into trophic levels such as opportunistic feeders and omnivores. Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and consume vegetation, mice, and other carnivores. All organisms are either consumed or end up as detritus.
