Does a trophic level represent a species or a functional level?

Step-by-step solution

Any calculations of energy content, biomass or numbers, has to include all organisms at that trophic level. No generalisations we make will be true if we take only a few individuals at any trophic level into account. Also a given organism may occupy more than one trophic level simultaneously. One must remember that the trophic level represents a functional level, not a species as such . A given species may occupy more than one trophic level in the same ecosystem at the same time; for example, a sparrow is a primary