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.
Many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, are unable to ingest discrete lumps of matter, instead live by absorbing and metabolising on a molecular scale. Scavengers are typically not thought to be detritivores, as they generally consume larger quantities of organic matter. 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.
Ecology
Woodlice can commonly be found eating damp rotting wood
Fungi, acting as decomposers, are important in today's terrestrial environment. During the Carboniferous period, fungi and bacteria had yet to evolve the capacity to digest lignin, and so large deposits of dead plant tissue accumulated during this period, later becoming the fossil fuelscitation needed.
By feeding on sediments directly to extract the organic component, some detritivores accidentally concentrate toxicpollutants.
Saprophytes
'Saprophyte' (-phyte meaning 'plant') is a botanical term that is now considered obsolete. There are no truly 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.[3][4][5]
References
^ Wetzel, R. G. 2001. Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems. Academic Press. 3rd. p.700.
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