Question

Distinguish between scavengers and decomposers.

Answer 1

Answer:

Difference between scavengers and decomposer -

Explanation:

Scavenger and decomposer are two types of organisms that are important for the functioning of an ecosystem. Scavengers are the animals that feed on dead plants, animals and carrion and break down them into small pieces. On the other hand, decomposers are the organisms that decompose the organic matter broken down by the scavengers. Therefore, this is the key difference between scavengers and decomposers. Besides, the scavengers are large animals, but decomposers are more often microorganisms. However, fungi come in different sizes. So, this is another difference between scavenger and decomposer.

Furthermore, scavengers can break down large dead bodies into small pieces while decomposers can break down small pieces of dead material into molecular levels. Thus, this is also a difference between scavenger and decomposer. Scavengers include animals such as birds, vultures, burying beetle, racoons, jackals, and hyenas, etc., while decomposers include earthworms, fungi and bacteria. Another difference between scavenger and decomposer is that scavenger initiates the decomposition by exposing interior matter to the outside by removing the skin, keratin layers, and scales of animals and barks of plants while decomposer completes it.