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The terms detritivore and decomposer are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomposers to perform the second stage of ...
Decomposition is often erroneously conflated with this process of external digestion, probably because of the strong association between fungi, which are external digesters, and decomposition. The term "decomposer" refers to a role in an ecosystem, not to a particular class or type of organism, or even to a specific capacity of those organisms. [5]
The remains of decaying plants or animals, or their tissue parts, and feces gradually lose their form due to physical processes and the action of decomposers, including grazers, bacteria, and fungi. [1] Decomposition, the process by which organic matter is decomposed, occurs in several phases.
Fungi are the primary decomposers in most environments, illustrated here Mycena interrupta. Saprophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead plant or animal biomass. [1] They are distinguished from detritivores in that saprophages are sessile consumers while detritivores are mobile.
Carrion insects are insects associated with decomposing remains. The processes of decomposition begin within a few minutes of death. [ 1 ] Decomposing remains offer a temporary, changing site of concentrated resources which are exploited by a wide range of organisms, of which arthropods are often the first to arrive and the predominant ...
[5] [2] Diptera species play a critical role in forensic entomology, as they tend to colonize the human body during the early floating phase of decomposition. [5] The flies utilize the submerged corpse as a source of food as well as an attachment site. Notably, Diptera do not specifically colonize and feed on human carcasses. [6]
Carnivores include fishes that feed on zooplankton in the water column (zooplanktivores), insects at the water's surface, on benthic structures, or in the sediment (insectivores), and those that feed on other fish . Fish that consume detritus and gain energy by processing its organic material are called detritivores. Omnivores ingest a wide ...
Amphipoda (/ æ m ˈ f ɪ p ə d ə /) is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods (/ ˈ æ m f ɪ p ɒ d z /) range in size from 1 to 340 millimetres (0.039 to 13 in) and are mostly detritivores or scavengers.