(1) The hypothesis that all sampled species form a homogeneous trophic group feeding, ‘on average,’ on the same food sources also was rejected.(2) We also combined taxa into four functional groups based on known trophic positions and feeding preferences: primary producers, herbivores, bacterivores, or predators.(3) Furthermore, medical treatments for endometriosis act in a variety of ways to abolish the trophic effect of oestradiol on both the eutopic and ectopic endometrium.(4) This has important ecological implications for trophic responses and estuarine productivity.(5) The trigeminal nerve also has an important trophic function maintaining tissue integrity and healing in the eye.(6) In rare cases, mothers feed trophic eggs to their tadpoles.(7) The trophic hormones act to stimulate secretion of hormone from the target gland and to maintain its function and, if present in high concentrations, will cause the gland to enlarge.(8) The direct effects of plant quality on omnivores is, therefore, likely to induce a trophic cascade whereby plant feeding by the omnivore ultimately benefits the plant.(9) The remaining hormones reviewed in this chapter are not coupled to tropic neuropeptides, but each has its own regulatory feedback loop that involves the hormone, a plasma component, and a target tissue.(10) A highly conserved feature is that the cells of all glands respond to their respective, regulatory tropic hormone with an increase in cyclic nucleotide.
