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Saprophagy
Saprophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead plant or animal biomass. They are distinguished from detritivores in that saprophages are sessile consumers while detritivores are mobile. Typical saprophagic animals include sedentary polychaetes such as amphitrites (''Amphitritinae'', worms of the family Terebellidae) and other terebellids. The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as xylophagy. The activity of animals feeding only on dead wood is called sapro-xylophagy and those animals, sapro-xylophagous. Ecology In food webs, saprophages generally play the roles of decomposers. There are two main branches of saprophages, broken down by nutrient source. There are necrophages which consume dead animal biomass, and thanatophages which consume dead plant biomass. See also * Detritivore *Decomposer *Saprotrophic nutrition Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion invol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mycena Interrupta
''Mycena interrupta'', commonly known as the pixie's parasol, is a species of mushroom. It has a Gondwanan distribution pattern, being found in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Chile. In Australia, it is found in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, and South Australia, and in Queensland where its distribution is limited to Lamington National Park. Description The caps of ''Mycena interrupta'' range from 0.8 to 2 cm, and they are a brilliant cyan blue colour. They are globose when emergent and then become a broad convex as they mature, with the centre of the cap slightly depressed. The caps are often sticky and appear slimy looking, particularly in moist weather. The length of the stipe typically ranges from 1 to 2 cm long and 0.1 to 0.2 cm thick. It is white, smooth and the base of the stipe is attached to the wood substrate by a flat white disk, similar to '' Roridomyces austrororidus'', which, unlike ''M. interrupta'' is attached to the wood subst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Necrophage
Necrophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carcasses and corpses. The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and , meaning 'to eat.' Mainly, necrophages are species within the phylum Arthropoda; however, other animals, such as Gastropoda, gastropods and Accipitrimorphae birds have been noted to engage in necrophagy. Necrophages play a critical role in the study of forensic entomology, as certain Arthropoda, such as Fly, Diptera larvae, engage in myiasis and colonization of the human body. Invertebrates Diptera Members of the order Diptera, such as Nematocera, Calliphoridae, Flesh fly, Sacrophagidae, and Muscidae, as well as semi-aquatic Diptera larvae, such as Black fly, Simuliidae and Chironomidae, are the most common necrophages within the Animalia kingdom. Diptera species play a critical role in forensic entomology, as they tend to colonize the human body during the early floating p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eating Behaviors
Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, omnivores consume a mixture of both plant and animal matter, and detritivores eat detritus. Fungi digest organic matter outside their bodies as opposed to animals that digest their food inside their bodies. For humans, eating is an activity of daily living. Some individuals may limit their amount of nutritional intake. This may be a result of a lifestyle choice, due to hunger or famine, as part of a diet or as religious fasting. Eating practices among humans Many homes have a large kitchen area devoted to preparation of meals and food, and may have a dining room, dining hall, or another designated area for eating. Most societies also have restaurants, food courts, and food vendors so that people may eat whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saprotrophic Nutrition
Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (for example ''Mucor'') and soil bacteria. Saprotrophic microscopic fungi are sometimes called saprobes; saprotrophic plants or bacterial flora are called saprophytes ( sapro- 'rotten material' + -phyte 'plant'), although it is now believed that all plants previously thought to be saprotrophic are in fact parasites of microscopic fungi or other plants. The process is most often facilitated through the active transport of such materials through endocytosis within the internal mycelium and its constituent hyphae. states the purpose of saprotrophs and their internal nutrition, as well as the main two types of fungi that are most often referred to, as well as describes, visually, the process of saprotrophic nutrition through a diagram of hy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decomposer
Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development. While the terms decomposer and detritivore are often interchangeably used, detritivores ''ingest'' and digest dead matter internally, while decomposers ''directly absorb'' nutrients through external chemical and biological processes. Thus, invertebrates such as earthworms, woodlice, and sea cucumbers are technically detritivores, not decomposers, since they must ingest nutrients - they are unable to absorb them externally. Fungi The primary decomposer of litter in many ecosystems is fungi. Unlike bacteria, which are unicellular organisms and are decomposers as well, most saprotrophic fungi grow as a branching network of hyphae. While bacteria are res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritivore
Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants that carry out coprophagy. By doing so, all these detritivores contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. They should be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discrete lumps of matter, but instead live by absorbing and metabolizing on a molecular scale (saprotrophic nutrition). 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 reminerali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thanatophage
Thanatophages, are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead plant biomass. Ecology In food webs, thanatophages generally play the roles of decomposers. The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as xylophagy. The activity of animals feeding only on dead wood is called sapro-xylophagy and those animals, sapro-xylophagous. ''Saprophytes'' ''Saprophyte'' (''-phyte'' meaning "plant") is a botanical term that is no longer in popular use, as such plants have been discovered to actually be parasitic on fungi. There are no real saprotrophic organisms that are embryophytes, and fungi and bacteria are no longer placed in the plant kingdom. Plants that were once considered saprophytes, such as non-photosynthetic orchids and monotropes, are now known to be parasites on fungi. These species are now termed myco-heterotrophs.Werner PG. 2006Myco-heterotrophs: Hacking the mycorrhizal network. ''Mycena News'' 57:1,8. See also *Necrophage *Detritivore Detrit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decomposers
Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development. While the terms decomposer and detritivore are often interchangeably used, detritivores ''ingest'' and digest dead matter internally, while decomposers ''directly absorb'' nutrients through external chemical and biological processes. Thus, invertebrates such as earthworms, woodlice, and sea cucumbers are technically detritivores, not decomposers, since they must ingest nutrients - they are unable to absorb them externally. Fungi The primary decomposer of litter in many ecosystems is fungi. Unlike bacteria, which are unicellular organisms and are decomposers as well, most saprotrophic fungi grow as a branching network of hyphae. While bacteria are r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nutrient
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excreted by cells to create non-cellular structures, such as hair, scales, feathers, or exoskeletons. Some nutrients can be metabolically converted to smaller molecules in the process of releasing energy, such as for carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and fermentation products (ethanol or vinegar), leading to end-products of water and carbon dioxide. All organisms require water. Essential nutrients for animals are the energy sources, some of the amino acids that are combined to create proteins, a subset of fatty acids, vitamins and certain minerals. Plants require more diverse minerals absorbed through roots, plus carbon dioxide and oxygen absorbed through leaves. Fungi live on dead or living organic matter and meet nutrient needs from their host. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food Webs
A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs. To maintain their bodies, grow, develop, and to reproduce, autotrophs produce organic matter from inorganic substances, including both minerals and gases such as carbon dioxide. These chemical reactions require energy, which mainly comes from the Sun and largely by photosynthesis, although a very small amount comes from bioelectrogenesis in wetlands, and mineral electron donors in hydrothermal vents and hot springs. These trophic levels are not binary, but form a gradient that includes complete autotrophs, which obtain their sole source of carbon from the atmosphere, mixotrophs (such as carnivorous plants), which are autotrophic organisms that partia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xylophagy
Xylophagy is a term used in ecology to describe the habits of an herbivorous animal whose diet consists primarily (often solely) of wood. The word derives from Greek ''ξυλοφάγος'' (''xulophagos'') "eating wood", from ''ξύλον'' (') "wood" and ''φαγεῖν'' (') "to eat", an ancient Greek name for a kind of a worm-eating bird. Animals feeding only on dead wood are called sapro-xylophagous or saproxylic. Xylophagous insects Most such animals are arthropods, primarily insects of various kinds, in which the behavior is quite common, and found in many different orders. It is not uncommon for insects to specialize to various degrees; in some cases, they limit themselves to certain plant groups (a taxonomic specialization), and in others, it is the physical characteristics of the wood itself (e.g., state of decay, hardness, whether the wood is alive or dead, or the choice of heartwood versus sapwood versus bark). Many xylophagous insects have symbiotic protozoa and/ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
