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On page 1- 9 in the Study Guide there are references to strict primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary consumers. Does the word strict mean that the consumer is only a consumer at that level?

April 26, 2017guide page primary Quaternary references Secondary strict study tertiary

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On page 1- 9 in the Study Guide there are references to strict primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary consumers. Does the word strict mean that the consumer is only a consumer at that level?

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Yes, strict does mean that the consumer feeds ONLY on one trophic level. You can readily determine from the chaparral food web diagram in your study guide if an organism is a “strict” secondary consumer (for example) – the organism’s box will only be at the SC level. Thus, the gopher snake is a strict secondary consumer but the king snake is not. The king snake acts as both a secondary and tertiary consumer. Note that its box spans both the SC and TC levels.