The fast-moving decline and extinction of many species of detritivores — organisms that break down and remove dead plant and animal matter — may have dire consequences, an international team of scientists suggests in a new study.
The fast-moving decline and extinction of many species of detritivores — organisms that break down and remove dead plant and animal matter — may have dire consequences, an international team of scientists suggests in a new study.
The researchers observed a close relationship between detritivore diversity and plant litter decomposition in streams, noting that decomposition was highest in waters with the most species of detritivores — including aquatic insects such as stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies and craneflies, and crustaceans such as scuds and freshwater shrimp and crabs.
Decomposition is a biological process that’s vital to life, explained study co-author Bradley Cardinale, professor and head of the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State.
Read more at: Penn State
The photographs of aquatic detritivores in this graphic represent a subset of families (ordered left to right from the most to the least abundant in the study). All over the world, detritivore populations are dwindling and disappearing at an alarming rate. (Photo Credit: Bradley Cardinale Lab, Penn State)
