Editing Predation (section)

=== Trophic level ===
{{further|Trophic level|Apex predator}}

One way of classifying predators is by [[trophic level]]. [[Carnivore]]s that feed on [[herbivore]]s are secondary consumers; their predators are tertiary consumers, and so forth.<ref name="Lindeman1942">{{cite journal |last1=Lindeman |first1=Raymond L. |title=The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology |journal=Ecology |volume=23 |issue=4 |year=1942 |pages=399–417 |doi=10.2307/1930126 |jstor=1930126 |bibcode=1942Ecol...23..399L }}</ref> At the top of this [[food chain]] are [[apex predator]]s such as [[lion]]s.<ref name="OrdizBischofSwenson2013">{{cite journal |last1=Ordiz |first1=Andrés |last2=Bischof |first2=Richard |last3=Swenson |first3=Jon E. |title=Saving large carnivores, but losing the apex predator? |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=168 |year=2013 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2013.09.024 |pages=128–133|doi-access=free |bibcode=2013BCons.168..128O | hdl=11250/2492589 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Many predators however eat from multiple levels of the food chain; a carnivore may eat both secondary and tertiary consumers.<ref>{{Cite journal  |last1=Pimm |first1=S. L. |last2=Lawton |first2=J. H. |year=1978 |title=On feeding on more than one trophic level |journal=Nature |volume=275 |issue=5680 |pages=542–544 |doi=10.1038/275542a0 |bibcode=1978Natur.275..542P| s2cid=4161183 }}</ref> This means that many predators must contend with [[intraguild predation]], where other predators kill and eat them. For example, [[coyote]]s compete with and sometimes kill [[gray fox]]es and [[bobcat]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fedriani |first1=Jose M. |last2=Fuller |first2=Todd K. |last3=Sauvajot |first3=Raymond M. |last4=York |first4=Eric C. |title=Competition and intraguild predation among three sympatric carnivores |journal=Oecologia |date=October 2000 |volume=125 |issue=2 |pages=258–270 |doi=10.1007/s004420000448 |pmid=24595837 |bibcode=2000Oecol.125..258F |hdl=10261/54628 |s2cid=24289407 |url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/nrc_faculty_pubs/110 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>