Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An organism, often a bacterium or fungus, that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, thus making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun That which decomposes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun ecology Any
organism that feeds offdecomposing organic material, especiallybacterium orfungi .
Etymologies
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Examples
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After saturation the mud of bicarbonate of sodium is drawn off and passed into the "decomposer," a tower 35 ft. high by 6 ft. 6 in. in diameter, with perforated shelves, into which steam is blown from below, the liquor passing downward.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 611, September 17, 1887 Various
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Physiological groups of decomposer fungi in tundra plant remains.
Implications of current species distributions for future biotic change in the Arctic 2009
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The effects of increased UV-B radiation levels on microorganisms include damage to high-latitude strains of fungal spores, and damage to some species of leaf-dwelling fungi and soil-dwelling decomposer fungi that resulted in a change in the composition of the fungal communities.
Phenotypic responses of arctic species to changes in climate and ultraviolet-B radiation 2009
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The economic system should reinvent the decomposer function of ecological systems.
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Focusing solely on biological processes (which we really shouldn't), the whole plant/algae -- animal/decomposer "pairing" constitute a sort of very oversimplified negative feedback.
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Water removed from tank A after harvesting of the zooplankton and from the decomposer tank was transferred to the chlorella culture tanks.
Chapter 7 1983
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You put in a good inferior article of plumbing, -- such as you find everywhere -- and add my decomposer, and there you are.
The American Claimant Mark Twain 1872
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An amalgam is formed when sodium metal dissolves in the liquid mercury and it is removed to the decomposer.
Recently Uploaded Slideshows yenwen 2010
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Many are found in the tropical rainforests acting as decomposer, nutrient recycler, pollinator and also serving as a source of food for other animals and plants.
unknown title 2009
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That lack of salt keeps decomposer numbers in check, while plants, which don't need salt, flourish, piling up carbon on the forest floor when they die.
Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 2009
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