Is a decomposer a consumer

Question

we had a test asking for 2 examples of a consumer. I chose a answer that wasn't correct but according to our teacher a decomposer is classified as a consumer. Please help me this is really confusing me

Answer 1

Hi James.I can understand your confusion.

It all lies in the definitions you are using, and the scientific community does not always agree.

If you define Consumer as all those organisms that cannot produce their own food and therefore must eat something else to get it, then yes, decomposers fall into this category. So your teacher, and you, are not wrong.

However, the term Decomposer is one of three labels used to describe how organisms get their food:

1. Producers - create their own food from nutrients
2. Consumers - have to eat producers or other consumers
3. Decomposers - break down organisms to release nutrients

You can consider a decomposer as a very special kind of consumer, because they release the nutrients so that the producers can begin the cycle again.

And that is probably why your answer was marked wrong. Because whoever wrote/scored the test question was thinking of decomposers as a separate category from the general consumers.

Depending on what kind of test this was, you may be able to defend your answer with a challenge to the test makers. This might be something you can discuss with your parents and teacher. If you feel that the question or the scoring was unfair.

I do hope this helps.