Wildlife
Detritus recyclers are the cleaners of the ecosystem, ridding the area of rotting material and recycling energy back into the food chain. They consume the non-living, organic material such as leaf-litter or fragments of dead and decomposing animals. In aquatic ecosystems, detritus is suspended in the water in tiny particles referred to as marine snow, which is often consumed through filter feeding. Fungi and creatures like woodlice are important land detritus recyclers.
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Born of mud
The incredible mangrove ecosystem is born of thick, glutinous, nutrient-rich mud.
The incredible mangrove ecosystem is born of thick, glutinous, nutrient-rich mud.
Stag beetle battle
Is a rotten old log really worth fighting over?
Stag beetles are Britain's largest beetles and are now rare in many of our woodlands. Here, two males fight over possesion of a rocky log, using their large mandibles for display and combat. The winner goes in search of a mate who has also been attracted by the log - it is here she will lay her eggs, so that the rotting wood can become an immediate food source for the grubs when they hatch.
Leaf litter life
A blanket of fallen autumn leaves is a haven for creepy crawlies.
A blanket of fallen autumn leaves is a haven for creepy crawlies.
Fungal friends
In times of drought, an old oak tree will respond by killing off some of its own branches.
In times of drought, an old oak tree will respond by killing off some of its own branches.
Got to rot
Death was at the very heart of life in the ancient British wild wood.
Death was at the very heart of life in the ancient British wild wood.
Detritivores, also known as detritophages or detritus feeders or detritus eaters or saprophages, are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as organic fecal matter). By doing so, they 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 and metabolizing on a molecular scale. However, the terms detritivore and decomposer are often used interchangeably.
Detritivores are an important aspect of many ecosystems. They can live on any soil with an organic component, and even live in marine ecosystems where they are termed interchangeably with bottom feeders.
Typical detritivorous animals include millipedes, woodlice, dung flies, slugs, many terrestrial worms, sea stars, sea cucumbers, fiddler crabs, and some sedentary polychaetes such as amphitrites (Amphitritinae, worms of the family terebellidae) and other terebellids.
Scavengers are typically not thought to be detritivores, as they generally eat large quantities of organic matter, but both detritivores and scavengers are specific cases of consumer-resource systems.Coprovores are also usually treated separately as they exhibit a slightly different feeding behaviour. The eating of wood, whether live or dead, is known as xylophagy. Τhe activity of animals feeding only on dead wood is called sapro-xylophagy and those animals, sapro-xylophagous.
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Brook lamprey
Earthworms