apex consumer
(noun)
consumers with few to no predators of their own, residing at the top of their food chain
Examples of apex consumer in the following topics:
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Biological Magnification
- One of the most important environmental consequences of ecosystem dynamics is biomagnification: the increasing concentration of persistent, toxic substances in organisms at each trophic level, from the primary producers to the apex consumers.
- In some aquatic ecosystems, organisms from each trophic level consumed many organisms of the lower level, which caused DDT to increase in birds (apex consumers) that ate fish.
- The apex consumer (walleye) had more than four times the amount of PCBs compared to phytoplankton.
- The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that pregnant women and young children should not consume any swordfish, shark, king mackerel, or tilefish because of their high mercury content.
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Food Chains and Food Webs
- The organisms that consume the primary producers are herbivores: the primary consumers.
- Secondary consumers are usually carnivores that eat the primary consumers, while tertiary consumers are carnivores that eat other carnivores.
- Higher-level consumers feed on the next lower trophic levels, and so on, up to the organisms at the top of the food chain, which are called the apex consumers.
- Primary producers are outlined in green, primary consumers in orange, secondary consumers in blue, and tertiary (apex) consumers in purple.
- The opossum shrimp eats both primary producers and primary consumers; it is, therefore, both a primary consumer and a secondary consumer.
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Transferring of Energy between Trophic Levels
- In the Lake Ontario ecosystem food web, only three energy transfers occurred between the primary producer (green algae) and the tertiary, or apex, consumer (Chinook salmon) .
- Incomplete ingestion refers to the fact that some consumers eat only a part of their food.
- Primary producers are outlined in green, primary consumers in orange, secondary consumers in blue, and tertiary (apex) consumers in purple.
- Arrows point from an organism that is consumed to the organism that consumes it.
- For example, the opossum shrimp eats both primary producers and primary consumers.
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Dark-Field Microscopy
- The light at the apex of the cone is focused at the plane of the specimen; as this light moves past the specimen plane it spreads again into a hollow cone.
- When a sample is on the stage, the light at the apex of the cone strikes it.
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The Neopalatial Period
- The apex of Minoan civilization occurred during the Neopalatial period, and lasted from 1700 to 1450 BCE.
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Patella (The Knee)
- The apex of the patella faces inferiorly and connects to the tibia tuberosity through the patella ligament which attaches to the anterior surface.
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Consumer Interest Groups
- Consumer Interest Groups focus on the issues and interests of consumers .
- Consumer Interest Groups can be considered public-interest groups since their work benefits consumers rather than providing exclusive economic benefits to a closed set of members.
- In these ways Consumer Interest Groups protect and represent consumers.
- Two examples of consumer groups concerned with a broad range of consumer goods are the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Consumer Union, who publishes the Consumer Reports.
- Consumer Interest Groups can also be single-issue interests groups.
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The Minoans
- The Protopalatial period of Minoan civilization (1900 to 1700 BCE) and the Neopalatial Period (1700-1450 BCE) saw the establishment of administrative centers on Crete and the apex of Minoan civilization, respectively.
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Pulse
- In this case, the heart rate is determined by auscultation or audible sounds at the heart apex, in which case it is not the pulse.
- The pulse deficit (difference between heart beats and pulsations at the periphery) is determined by simultaneous palpation at the radial artery and auscultation at the heart apex.
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Alternative Arrangements
- Business-to-government, consumer-to-consumer, and institutional markets are additional types of marketing channels.
- These include business-to-government, consumer-to-consumer, and institutional markets.
- Consumer-to-consumer commerce is the completion of transactions between private individuals or consumers.
- Craigslist and eBay usually involve consumer-to-consumer transactions.
- There are also older forms of consumer-to-consumer transactions, such as classified ads and garage sales .