consumers, mostly microbial, that change dead organic matter into minerals and heat.
Living things, chiefly bacteria and fungi, that live by extracting energy from tissues of dead animals and plants.
(Living things in their environment) organisms that feed on and break down dead matter
Level in a food chain or web that consists of organisms (such as earthworms, fungi, and bacteria) that eat dead organisms and waste products, breaking them down into basic nutrients (such as oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus) and returning them to the soil for plants to use.
animals or other organisms which aid the decay process
Heterotrophic organisms that break down dead protoplasm and use some of the products and release others for use by consumer organisms.