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Biology vocabulary · Ecology and Ecosystems

Decomposer

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˌdiːkəmˈpoʊzər/nounCommon term

In biology, decomposer means: An organism, mainly a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down dead plants, animals and waste, returning nutrients to the soil and the ecosystem.

In Turkish: ayrıştırıcı, çürükçül

How it is used

One of the three main roles in an ecosystem, together with producers and consumers. The process is decomposition and the verb is decompose. Without decomposers, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus would stay locked in dead matter.

Example sentences

  1. Fungi are the main decomposers of wood in forests.

  2. Decomposers recycle the nutrients that plants need to grow.

Common collocations

  • producers, consumers and decomposers
  • soil decomposers
  • nutrient cycling
  • decomposition
  • fungusA member of the group of organisms that includes yeasts, molds and mushrooms. Fungi feed on organic material and have cell walls made of chitin.
  • bacteriaSingle-celled microorganisms without a nucleus that live almost everywhere, from soil and water to the human gut. Most are harmless or useful; some cause disease.
  • food webA network of connected food chains that shows all the feeding relationships in an ecosystem, since most organisms eat, and are eaten by, more than one species.
  • ecosystemA community of living things together with the non-living parts of their environment, such as water, soil and climate, all interacting as one system.

More terms: Ecology and Ecosystems

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