The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Detritivores are organisms within an ecosystem that feed on dead and decaying plant and animal material and waste (called detritus); detritivores represent more than half of the living biomass. Protozoa, polychaetes, nematodes, Fiddler crabs, and filter-feeders are a few examples of detritivores that live in the salt marsh ecosystem. (Fiddler crabs, for instance, scoop up grains of sand and consume the small particles of decaying organic material between the grains.) While microbes would eventually decompose most material, detritivores speed up the process by comminuting, and partly digesting the dead, organic material. This allows the microbes to get at such material more readily. The continuing decomposition process is vital to the existence of an ecosystem—essential in the maintenance of nutrient cycles, as well as the natural renewal of soil fertility.