What are decomposers? (What do they eat?)
I admit it. I love decomposers like fungi, bacteria, and insects, and I think they are vastly undervalued creatures on this planet.
My specialty is microbiology and I share some of my knowledge in these articles!
I admit it. I love decomposers like fungi, bacteria, and insects, and I think they are vastly undervalued creatures on this planet.
Let’s dive a little bit into the energy metabolism of animals, and whether they can obtain energy from sunlight. Animals are generally heterotrophs as (most, but not all, – see below!) animal cells lack chloroplasts to perform photosynthesis. Animals get their energy from eating organic compounds in the form of other organisms like plants, other…
All cells need a constant flow of energy to maintain their metabolism and to grow. While prokaryotic cells such as bacteria do not need separate organelles to satisfy their energy demands, all eukaryotic cells do (with very few exceptions – read on!). Eukaryotes like plants, animals, and protists need mitochondria for their survival. They all…
Euglena is a group of microorganisms that are not quite animals nor plants, but protists. The difficult classification stems from their ability to obtain energy from the sun as well as organic matter. Euglena can be harmful to both humans and animals, depending on the species. Euglena species are involved in forming toxic algae blooms…
Euglena are autotrophic and heterotrophic, depending on the conditions they are in, meaning they are actually mixotrophic. But what do these words mean?
What are Euglena actually? They have both plant and animal features but look like bacteria?! So what do we call them – read here to find out!
Paramecium is a genus of unicellular ciliates, commonly studied as a representative of the ciliate group. Paramecia are widespread in freshwater environments and are often very abundant in stagnant basins and ponds. The body of Paramecia is a single cell that resembles that of animals more than those of plants, but it is neither and…
Paramecium are single-celled heterotrophic organisms that live in water. They are very common and can be found in ponds, lakes, and streams. Paramecium are non-photosynthetic and must obtain their nutrition from other sources. Paramecium are opportunistic feeders and will consume a variety of organic matter, including bacteria, algae, yeast, detritus, and even other smaller protozoans.…
Decomposers are heterotrophs because they feed on the organic waste from other organisms. Heterotrophs feed on other organisms, while autotrophs produce their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. While all decomposers are heterotrophs, certain autotrophs play an important role in the decomposition process by converting decomposed nutrients into compounds that can be absorbed by plants.…
Cyanobacteria are a large group of differently shaped bacteria that are all able to perform photosynthesis. They are an important part of the global carbon cycle and produce a large amount of the world’s oxygen. Cyanobacteria are also known as blue-green algae, although they are not actually algae but bacteria. Cyanobacteria are autotrophs, meaning they…