Definition of "decomposer" [decomposer]

• 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. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "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."
• "Physiological groups of decomposer fungi in tundra plant remains."
• "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."