trophic level
noun
: one of the hierarchical strata of a food web characterized by organisms which are the same number of steps removed from the primary producers
Examples of trophic level in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In some instances, different trophic levels have greater dependencies with each other.
—
Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
In general, scientists typically use five trophic levels to describe food chains.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
Through this process, called bioaccumulation, the heavy metals stick around and increase at each trophic level.
—Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 19 Oct. 2022
One way that extra trophic level or two could be explained?
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 29 June 2022
One of the most important applications of nitrogen stable isotopes is its ability to determine the trophic level of a species.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 29 June 2022
Feeding at the same trophic level does not necessarily imply direct competition between megalodon and great white sharks for the same prey, as both species could have specialized in different prey.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 31 May 2022
What’s useful to Fleming is that these elements can act as tracers of different aspects of the environment, including, for a migrating whale, its geographic location and the trophic level (position in the food web) of what the whale has been eating.
—Jennifer S. Holland, Smithsonian, 1 Sep. 2017
This indicated that the birds’ food chain had become shorter; somewhere in the birds’ food chain, animals were eating at a lower trophic level.
—Wendy Mitman Clarke, Smithsonian, 26 Apr. 2017
Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
In general, scientists typically use five trophic levels to describe food chains.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
Through this process, called bioaccumulation, the heavy metals stick around and increase at each trophic level.
—Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 19 Oct. 2022
One way that extra trophic level or two could be explained?
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 29 June 2022
One of the most important applications of nitrogen stable isotopes is its ability to determine the trophic level of a species.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 29 June 2022
Feeding at the same trophic level does not necessarily imply direct competition between megalodon and great white sharks for the same prey, as both species could have specialized in different prey.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 31 May 2022
What’s useful to Fleming is that these elements can act as tracers of different aspects of the environment, including, for a migrating whale, its geographic location and the trophic level (position in the food web) of what the whale has been eating.
—Jennifer S. Holland, Smithsonian, 1 Sep. 2017
This indicated that the birds’ food chain had become shorter; somewhere in the birds’ food chain, animals were eating at a lower trophic level.
—Wendy Mitman Clarke, Smithsonian, 26 Apr. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trophic level.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1942, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near trophic level
Cite this Entry
“Trophic level.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trophic%20level. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about trophic level
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