Decomposer: Difference between revisions

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Decomposers (or saprotrophs) are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms, and in doing so carry out the natural process of decomposition. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development. Decomposers use deceased organisms and non-living organic compounds as their food source. The primary examples are:

Bacteria

Bacteria are important decomposers; they are widely distributed and can break down just about any type of organic matter.^[1] A gram of soil typically contains 40dsdsfsdgfshshggfh million bacterial cells, and the bacteria on Earth form a biomass that exceeds that of all living plants and animals. Bacteria are vital in the recycling nutrients, and many steps in nutrient cycles depend on these organisms.

Fungi

The primary decomposers of litter in many ecosystems are fungi. Unlike bacteria, which are unicellular organisms, most saprotrophic fungi grow as a branching network of hyphae. While bacteria are restricted to growing and feeding on the exposed surfaces of organic matter, fungi can use their hyphae to penetrate larger pieces of organic matter. Additionally, only wood-decay fungi have evolved the enzymes necessary to decompose lignin, a chemically complex substance found in wood. These two factors make fungi the primary decomposers in forests, where litter has high concentrations of lignin and often occurs in large pieces. Fungi eat the dead matter by releasing acid found in their body to melt the decaying material, then sucking in all the acid, along with the melted material.^{[citation needed]} Over time, the fungi will eat all the material left. Hyphae are used to drain the melted material and acid are also used in sexual reproduction. When two fungi's hyphae grow close to each other, they will then fuse together and form another fungus.^{[citation needed]} That new fungus will then mature.

Worms

Various types of worms are also considered decomposers, as they act as scavengers. For example, a worm that begins to consume an apple helps to hasten its decay by removing parts of the skin and flesh, exposing the interior of the fruit to the elements and to other decomposers. Certain species of roundworms will also help to decompose the bodies of animals ^{[citation needed]}.

References

^ USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Soil Biology.

Beare MH, Hendrix PF, Cheng W (1992) Microbial and faunal interactions and effects on litter nitrogen and decomposition in agroecosystems. Ecological Monographs 62: 569-591
Hunt HW, Colema9n DC, Ingham ER, Ingham RE, Elliot ET, Moore JC, Rose SL, Reid CPP, Morley CR (1987) "The detrital food web in a shortgrass prairie". Biology and Fertility of Soils 3: 57-68
Smith TM, Smith RL (2006) Elements of Ecology. Sixth edition. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.
Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM (1979) Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Feeding behaviours

Carnivores

adult	Avivore Egg predation Hematophagy Insectivore Lepidophagy Man-eating animal Molluscivore Mucophagy Myrmecophagy Ophiophagy Piscivore Spongivore Vermivore
reproductive	Oophagy Paedophagy Placentophagy Breastfeeding Weaning
cannibalistic	Animal cannibalism Human cannibalism Self-cannibalism Sexual cannibalism

Herbivores

Cellular

Others

Methods

v t e Ecology: Modelling ecosystems: Trophic components
General	Abiotic component Abiotic stress Behaviour Biogeochemical cycle Biomass Biotic component Biotic stress Carrying capacity Competition Ecosystem Ecosystem ecology Ecosystem model Green world hypothesis Keystone species List of feeding behaviours Metabolic theory of ecology Productivity Resource Restoration
Producers	Autotrophs Chemosynthesis Chemotrophs Foundation species Kinetotrophs Mixotrophs Myco-heterotrophy Mycotroph Organotrophs Photoheterotrophs Photosynthesis Photosynthetic efficiency Phototrophs Primary nutritional groups Primary production
Consumers	Apex predator Bacterivore Carnivores Chemoorganotroph Foraging Generalist and specialist species Intraguild predation Herbivores Heterotroph Heterotrophic nutrition Insectivore Mesopredators Mesopredator release hypothesis Omnivores Optimal foraging theory Planktivore Predation Prey switching
Decomposers	Chemoorganoheterotrophy Decomposition Detritivores Detritus
Microorganisms	Archaea Bacteriophage Lithoautotroph Lithotrophy Marine Microbial cooperation Microbial ecology Microbial food web Microbial intelligence Microbial loop Microbial mat Microbial metabolism Phage ecology
Food webs	Biomagnification Ecological efficiency Ecological pyramid Energy flow Food chain Trophic level
Example webs	Lakes Rivers Soil Tritrophic interactions in plant defense Marine food webs cold seeps hydrothermal vents intertidal kelp forests North Pacific Gyre San Francisco Estuary tide pool
Processes	Ascendency Bioaccumulation Cascade effect Climax community Competitive exclusion principle Consumer–resource interactions Copiotrophs Dominance Ecological network Ecological succession Energy quality Energy systems language f-ratio Feed conversion ratio Feeding frenzy Mesotrophic soil Nutrient cycle Oligotroph Paradox of the plankton Trophic cascade Trophic mutualism Trophic state index
Defense, counter	Animal coloration Anti-predator adaptations Camouflage Deimatic behaviour Herbivore adaptations to plant defense Mimicry Plant defense against herbivory Predator avoidance in schooling fish

v t e Ecology: Modelling ecosystems: Other components
Population ecology	Abundance Allee effect Consumer-resource model Depensation Ecological yield Effective population size Intraspecific competition Logistic function Malthusian growth model Maximum sustainable yield Overpopulation Overexploitation Population cycle Population dynamics Population modeling Population size Predator–prey (Lotka–Volterra) equations Recruitment Small population size Stability Resilience Resistance Random generalized Lotka–Volterra model
Species	Biodiversity Density-dependent inhibition Ecological effects of biodiversity Ecological extinction Endemic species Flagship species Gradient analysis Indicator species Introduced species Invasive species / Native species Latitudinal gradients in species diversity Minimum viable population Neutral theory Occupancy–abundance relationship Population viability analysis Priority effect Rapoport's rule Relative abundance distribution Relative species abundance Species diversity Species homogeneity Species richness Species distribution Species–area curve Umbrella species
Species interaction	Antibiosis Biological interaction Commensalism Community ecology Ecological facilitation Interspecific competition Mutualism Parasitism Storage effect Symbiosis
Spatial ecology	Biogeography Cross-boundary subsidy Ecocline Ecotone Ecotype Disturbance Edge effects Foster's rule Habitat fragmentation Ideal free distribution Intermediate disturbance hypothesis Insular biogeography Land change modeling Landscape ecology Landscape epidemiology Landscape limnology Metapopulation Patch dynamics r/K selection theory Resource selection function Source–sink dynamics
Niche	Ecological niche Ecological trap Ecosystem engineer Environmental niche modelling Guild Habitat marine habitats Limiting similarity Niche apportionment models Niche construction Niche differentiation Ontogenetic niche shift
Other networks	Assembly rules Bateman's principle Bioluminescence Ecological collapse Ecological debt Ecological deficit Ecological energetics Ecological indicator Ecological threshold Ecosystem diversity Emergence Extinction debt Kleiber's law Liebig's law of the minimum Marginal value theorem Thorson's rule Xerosere
Other	Allometry Alternative stable state Balance of nature Biological data visualization Ecological economics Ecological footprint Ecological forecasting Ecological humanities Ecological stoichiometry Ecopath Ecosystem based fisheries Endolith Evolutionary ecology Functional ecology Industrial ecology Macroecology Microecosystem Natural environment Regime shift Sexecology Systems ecology Urban ecology Theoretical ecology
Outline of ecology

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ==Bacteria==
 {{main|Bacteria }}
-Bacteria are important decomposers; they are widely distributed and can break down just about any type of organic matter.<ref>[http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/bacteria.html  USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Soil Biology.]</ref>  A gram of soil typically contains 40 million bacterial cells, and the bacteria on Earth form a [[biomass]] that exceeds that of all living plants and animals. Bacteria are vital in the recycling nutrients, and many steps in [[nutrient cycles]] depend on these organisms.
+Bacteria are important decomposers; they are widely distributed and can break down just about any type of organic matter.<ref>[http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/bacteria.html  USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Soil Biology.]</ref>  A gram of soil typically contains 40dsdsfsdgfshshggfh million bacterial cells, and the bacteria on Earth form a [[biomass]] that exceeds that of all living plants and animals. Bacteria are vital in the recycling nutrients, and many steps in [[nutrient cycles]] depend on these organisms.
 == Fungi ==

Decomposer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:40, 2 December 2011

Bacteria

Fungi

Worms

See also

References