<P> The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain . The word trophic derives from the Greek τροφή (trophē) referring to food or nourishment . A food chain represents a succession of organisms that eat another organism and are, in turn, eaten themselves . The number of steps an organism is from the start of the chain is a measure of its trophic level . Food chains start at trophic level 1 with primary producers such as plants, move to herbivores at level 2, predators at level 3 and typically finish with carnivores or apex predators at level 4 or 5 . The path along the chain can form either a one - way flow or a food "web". Ecological communities with higher biodiversity form more complex trophic paths . </P> <P> The concept of trophic level was developed by Raymond Lindeman (1942), based on the terminology of August Thienemann (1926): "producers", "consumers" and "reducers" (modified to "decomposers" by Lindeman). </P>

Which type of organism would occupy the bottom trophic level