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trophic levels
- feeder level
- a step in the movement of energy through an ecosystem
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trophic level 4
- tertiary consumer
- top carnivore
- e.g., coyote
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trophic level 3
- secondary consumer
- small carnivore
- e.g., shrew
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trophic level 2
- herbivore
- e.g., grasshopper
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trophic level 1
- primary producer
- e.g., plants
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food chain
- the series of organisms, from each trophic level, that feed on eachother
- easy to visualize, but not realistic
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food web
the diagramatic representation of actual interactions among trophic levels
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primary production
the amount of organic matter produced from solar energy
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gross primary production (GPP)
the total organic matter produced from solar energy
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net primary production (NPP)
amount of organic matter available for heterotrophs
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secondary productivity
the rate of production by heterotrophs
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interactions among trophic levels
- trophic cascades
- -top down
- -bottom up
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