The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

By2 as help

Are detritivores and saprophytes the same thing?
Reply 1
Avatar for Spectral
Spectral
8
For all intents and purposes, I think it's fine to treat them as the same thing. I'm doing A2 bio this year, and I've never really been asked or seen anyone make it clear that there was a distinction.

The only difference I can think of is that detritivores are mainly animals - things such as Earthworms, whereas saprophytes are mainly to do with fungi and other organisms that feed by secretion of extracellular enzymes and then absorb the products. Maybe that's another distinction - internal digestion (detritivores) vs extracellular digestion (saprophytes).

Honestly, I don't know for sure, but I hope this might have helped a bit!

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you