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E2

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Saved by PBworks
on September 27, 2006 at 10:13:34 pm

E2. A community has several trophic levels.

Student Outcome: E2.1

Give the functions of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a community.

A trophic level is composed of organisms that make a living in the same way, that is they are all primary producers (plants), primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary consumers (carnivores). Dead tissue and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores, and decomposers collectively account for the use of all such "waste" -- consumers of carcasses and fallen leaves may be other animals, such as crows and beetles, but ultimately it is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition. Not surprisingly, the amount of primary production varies a great deal from place to place, due to differences in the amount of solar radiation and the availability of nutrients and water.

Source: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/ecosystem.html