Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Adia Freeman

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Jennifer Klenz wrote at 2010-06-30 00:35:32
Decomposers are generally fungi or bacteria that secrete enzymes outside their cells. The enzymes breakdown particular food sources into simple things like simple sugars, amino acids etc. Then the decomposer absorbs  these simple products back into their cells because they need these compounds for their own growth. The great thing about decomposers is that they breakdown more than they need so that usually other organisms nearby benefit. If, for example, they are acting in soil and they are helping rot a dead tree, lots of nutrients are left behind in the soil that can be used by other organisms such as plants and other living trees themselves. The wide variety of digestive enzymes that the decomposers have is very diverse compared to what animals have themselves. Decomposers are the only ones who can actually fully breakdown cellulose and lignin (the compounds which make wood so hard). In fact when we eat certain foods like beans or broccoli there is a lot we can't digest. That is where we depend on decomposers in our own guts. They finish breaking down the things we can't digest (and sometimes a byproduct can be gas.) When a cow eats grass it has a special stomach filled with decomposers that do most of the digesting of the grass. The decomposers breakdown more than they need so the cow gets the rest.



Now for detritivores they consume dead organic matter by breaking it into smaller pieces which they swallow. These are things like dead leaves, decaying wood, bits of dead seaweed or dead marine animals. Examples of detritivores are organisms like worms, termites, pillbugs and crabs.  Detritivores don't have most of the enzymes to breakdown many components of plant matter either. Only decomposers do. So they also rely on decomposers in their guts to fully breakdown what they eat. The gut of a termite is an amazing ecosystem when you see all the organisms that live there due to the decomposers breaking down chunks of wood eaten by a termite.

So yes, both detritivores and decomposers get energy from dead organic matter but detritivores always rely on decomposers in their guts to help fully breakdown all the indigestible stuff and give them compounds they can actually use for energy.

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