saprobic

Adjective

saprobic (not generally comparable, comparative more saprobic, superlative most saprobic)

1. (not comparable, usually) Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a saprobe or saprobes; that feeds on dead or decaying organic matter.
   • It cannot be said that one saprobe is more saprobic than another, even though one produces ten times as many spores as another in the same habitat or one produces no spores in the polluted habitat but countless numbers of spores in the ivory tower of the pure culture laboratory.1986, William Bridge Cooke, The Fungi of Our Mouldy Earth, page 38
   • Saprobic edible fungi are also collected from the wild but they are best known and most widely valued in their cultivated forms.2004, E. R. Boa, Wild Edible Fungi: A Global Overview of Their Use and Importance to People, page 8

   Synonyms:

   saprobiotic

2. (not comparable, usually) That contains dead or decaying organic material (and therefore also saprobes).
   • 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.1969, Wilhelm Rohde, Crystallization of Eutrophication Concepts in Northern Europe, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), Eutrophication: Causes, Consequences, Correctives, Symposium Proceedings, page...
   • The s-score relates to the saprobic zone of which the species are characteristic; a score of between 1 and 4 is assigned to each species, depending upon whether it is typically found in oligosaprobic, α-mesosaprobic, β-mesosaprobic or polysaprobic zones, respectively.1996, P. D. Abel, Water Pollution Biology, 2nd edition, page 87