Definition of "saprobic" in English

adjective

1. (biology) Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a saprobe or saprobes; that feeds on dead or decaying organic matter.

2. (ecology) That contains dead or decaying organic material (and therefore also saprobes).

   • 1969, Wilhelm Rohde, Crystallization of Eutrophication Concepts in Northern Europe, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, Correctives, Symposium Proceedings, page 60, Each of the polysaprobic, mesosaprobic, and oligosaprobic zones is now divided into one α- and one β-level, of which the former is more saprobic than the latter.