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