[[File:Millipede.jpg|175px|thumb|right|Some species of Diplopods are obligate coprophages.]]
== Definition ==
'''Coprophagia''' or '''Coprophagy''' are terms associated with the act of consuming feces. The word is derivative of the Greek κόπρος (copros), "feces" and φαγεῖν (phagein), "to eat". ''Coprophagy'' comes in many different flavors; ''heterospecifics'' consume the feces of other species, ''allocoprophagy'' is the consumption of the feces of an individual of the same species and ''autocoprophagy'' is the consumption of one's own feces. It is typical of some animal species to eat feces, lagomorphs do so to allow tough plant material to digest more efficiently via two passages through the digestive tract. Other species may eat feces under specific behavioral conditions that are beneficial to the species, its symbiont and the surrounding environment. Coprophagous organisms are geographically and morphologically diverse and consist of mega-, macro-, and mesofauna.

[[File:dungbeetle.jpg|thumb|left|Two ''Scarabaeus sacer'' individuals rolling a ball of dung]]

== Invertebrates ==
Coprophagous insects of the [[Hexapod]] group of the [[Arthropod]] phylum, consume and digest the feces of larger species, such as mammals, because they have digestive tracts of lesser efficiency when it comes to breaking down nutrients in foods and making them biologically available for further uptake by plants or animals. In isopods, the inability to absorb nutrients from food in the posterior hindgut has been considered one reason for coprophagy [5]. When given the choice, isopods will participate in allocoprophagy or autocoprophatgy. The consumption of feces by isopods is thought to be linked to a deficiency in copper concentrations in the body due to the lack of availability of copper in leaf litter. Some species of flies and Dung Beetles are known to be coprophagic, they feed on the microorganism-rich excrement of other species. Dung Beetles make balls of dung by rolling them, they then bury the balls underground and lay there eggs within it.

A common temporary resident in the soils of temperate deciduous forests, the [[Hawthorn fly]] is plays an important role in leaf litter decomposition and exploits the rich resources in the feces of other soil organisms as another source of food [1]. Some coprophagic earthworms' affinity for feces enriched soil make them important disseminators of some microbial pathogens such as ''T. gondii'' [2].

[[File:Psilocybe.jpg|thumb|right|Some ''Psilocybe cubensis'' growing on a pile of dung.]]

== Coprophilous Fungi ==
Coprophilous Fungi such as species ''Cheilymenia'' are a type of [[saprobic]] [[ascomycete]] that feed and grow on the animal dung. The species of this group of fungi can be highly specialized and prefer the dung of one species of herbivore, or they may be generalized and not prefer any one type of herbivore dung. The spores of this fungi are unwittingly consumed by animals from vegetation, then excreted with the plant matter. These fungi often have thick-walled, pigmented spores that require passage through an animal digestive tract to begin germination [7]. The fruiting bodies, or mushrooms, of these fungi can be seen on top of dung piles. What is most interesting is that there exist vast mycelial networks within the dung piles that allow for the succession of the fruiting bodies. [[Psilocybe]], [[Panaeolus]], and [[Coprinus]] species are also sometimes found growing out of dung [3]. Fossils of certain coprophilous fungi species have been used by archaeologists to determine which types of animals were being domesticated around the initial forest disturbances by humans in the early Holocene deposits [7].

[[File:Nutrient Cycling.jpg|thumb|left|A diagram of nutrient cycling]]

== Nutrient Cycling ==
Coprophagous organisms can help an ecosystem cycle nutrients by breaking down materials that are not yet biologically available to plants for uptake and use. Biological aging or ''scenescence'' is the gradual deterioration of the functional characteristics of organic material, it results in the loss of nutrients to the environment. While the scope of importance of coprophagy in the field is not yet known, it is postulated that coprophagy by saprophagous soil animals that preferentially feed on the feces of [[phytophagous insects]] may add a further trophic level to soil–plant–animal interactions and increase the diversity of involved processes [6]. It is also suggested that nutrients are released faster by the feces of phytophagous insects than by leaf litter and that coprophagy by isopods may contribute to fast cycling of nutrients in the growing season of deciduous forests. It is suggested that nutrients released by coprophagous isopods may contribute to the regrowth by defoliated trees [6]. One study has found that the presence of coprophagous isopods resulted in an increase in both Calcium concentration and the [[C:N ratio]] of soils while deacreasing Potassium and Magnesium concentrations in soils over a twelve week period [6].

Coprophagous soil arthropods such as the ''Porcelio scaber'' isopod can increase nutrient release from animal frass and leaf litter via multiple digestions of the organic material [4]. The activity and respiration of soil microbes has been shown to increase in the presence of coprophagous [[detritivores]] in experimental settings [4]. Microbial inoculated feces represent microbial 'hotspots' in soil, they create gradients along airborne microbial metabolites that may attract foraging coprophagous isopods to the microbial hotspot [5]. Due to their feeding activity, terrestrial isopods contribute to decomposition processes by breaking down leaf litter and by promoting microbial activity. By ingesting their own feces which have been colonized by bacteria, the isopods can benefit from the presence of the microbes in their gut. The presence of such microbes in the gut helps the isopods to further absorb nutrients and then pass them into the soil [5].

== References ==
1. Špaldoňová, A. 2014. The role of soil microfauna in organic matter decomposition and stabilization. Charles University in Prague: Faculty of Science: 18-22.

2. Bettiol, S. S., D. L. Obendorf, M. Nowarkowski, T. Milstein, J. M. Goldsmid. 2000. Earthworms as Paratenic Hosts of Toxoplasmosis in Eastern Barred Bandicoots in Tasmania. Journal of Wildlife Diseases Volume 36: 145-148.

3. Lepp, H. 2013. Information about Australia's Flora. Australian Fungi. Fungal Ecology. Dung Fungi. <https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/ecology-dung.html>. Downloaded on 21 April 2019.

4. Madritch, M. D., J. R. Donaldson, R. L. Lindroth. 2007. Canopy herbivory can mediate the influence of plant genotype on soil processes through frass deposition. Soil Biology and Biochemistry Volume 39: 1192-1201.

5. Zimmer, M. 2002. Nutrition in terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea): An evolutionary-ecological approach. Biological Reviews Volume 77: 455-593.

6. Zimmer, M., W. Topp. 2002. The role of coprophagy in nutrient release from feces of phytophagous insects. Soil Biology and Biochemistry Volume 34: 1093-1099.

7. López-Sáez, J. A., L. López-Merino. 2007. Coprophilous fungi as a source of information of anthropic activities during the Prehistory in the Amblés Valley (Ávila, Spain): The archaeopalynological record. Revista Española de Micropaleontología Volume 39: 103-116.

8. Millipede. (n.d.). . Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions. <https://www.rottler.com/pests/profile/millipede>.

2019-04-30T11:50:39Z

Lbackman:

Saprotrophic nutrition

2019-04-29T20:51:25Z

Lbackman:

[[File:Saprobes.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Some Shaggy Pholiota growing on trees, these fungi are wood-rotting saprobes]]'''Saprotrophic nutrition''' is an example of [[extracellular digestion]] of decayed organic matter by organisms such as fungi and [[soil bacteria]]. Saprotrophic microscopic fungi are often called '''saprobes'''; saprotrophic plants or bacterial flora are called '''saprophytes'''. The process is most often facilitated by active transport of such materials through endocytosis within the internal mycelium and its constituent hyphae. Fungi, bread mould, some protists, and many bacteria are saprophytic in nutrition. Saprobes often use their hyphae to penetrate wood and other solid materials. Saprotrophic bacteria are more adept at breaking down fluid and semi-fluid materials [2].

==Process==
In the presence of decaying organic matter, saprophytes and saprobes release digestive enzymes in their surrounding medium to convert complex organic molecules down to their simpler constituents. This simpler food is then absorbed through the body surface and utilized for various metabolic activities in the saprophyte. An example of this is the breakdown of starch into glucose or sucrose [1].

*Proteins are broken down into their amino acid components via the breaking of peptide bonds
*Lipids are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol
*Starch is broken down into simpler sugars

===Conditions===
Optimal growth and repair of saprophytic organisms requires favorable conditions [1].

*'''Presence of water''': 80–90% of the body of a fungi is comprised of water by mass. Fungi require excess water in their environment for intake due to the evaporation of internally retained water.
*'''Presence of oxygen''': Anaerobic conditions do not allow for the optimal growth of saprophytic organisms above media such as soil and water.
*'''Neutral pH''': pH levels around 7 are required.
*'''Moderate temperatures''': Optimal growth of saprotrophic organisms occurs at 25°C, most of these organisms can grow and thrive between the temperatures of 1°C and 35°C.

==Occurrence in Nature==
[[File:WhitevBrownRot.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Brown and white rot residues and fungal fruit bodies. a) Brown rot residue, b) brown rot fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola, c) white rot residue, d) white rot fungus, Fomes fomentarius]]
===Materials Colonized by Saprotrophic Organisms [2]===
====Wood====
Fungi are the fundamental decomposers of wood. Without the ecosystem services provided by fungi as wood decomposers, our forests would be filled with wood piles. There are two physiological types of wood-decay fungi recognized by those who work in the field: those that produce brown rots and those that produce white rots. These two physiological categories reflect the composition of the wood and the processes by which the fungi decompose the wood. Glucose stored in the wood is a vital nutrient for fungi that is sometimes difficult to obtain due to its binding in cellulose and lignin. Those fungi that digest the cellulose within the lignin matrix leave behind a mass of brown lignin. Those fungi that cause white rot dissolve the lignin first and leave behind the white fibrous cellulose for later digestion. The most efficient wood-decay fungi are members of the [[Basidiomycota]] and can be seen on decaying logs, stumps, and trees.
[[File:leaflitterfungi.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Mycelium (thread-like fungal structures) on leaf litter.]]
====Fallen Leaves/Leaf Litter====
Fallen leaves offer an abundant source of cellulose for forest ecosystems and their organisms. Some organisms begin their lives as endophytes and begin digesting the cellulose as soon as possible while other organisms occupy the leaves after they have fallen and begin rapidly digesting the cellulose. Leaves contain less lignin than wood so their soft parts are much easier to break down and digest. All types of leaves are colonized and decomposed by saprotrophic fungi.
[[File:wrackdecomposers.png|thumb|left|200px|(left) ''Dendryphiella salina'', (center) ''Sigmoidea marina'', (left) ''Acremonium fuci'']]
====Wrack====
Wrack is biomass consisting of vegetable matter made up of a variety of species such as algae, seagrass and some land plants that may have washed up on beaches. It is very high in nutrients and has been used by humans as a fertilizer. While wrack is highly nutritious, its chemical components are rather unusual and not typically found outside of marine ecosystems. Because of this, the fungi associated with the decomposition of wrack are also found in marine habitats. ''Dendryphiella salina'' is the chief fungi that decomposes wrack and can be found worldwide. It is a slow-growing mould that is often found in the company of ''Sigmoidea marina'' and ''Acremonium fuci''. Species of the [[ascomycete]] family Halosphaeriaceae are able to wait for wrack on beaches by attaching themselves to sand grains and releasing spores with bristle-like appendages that keep them suspended in seafoam.
[[File:Sporedrops.jpg|thumb|left|200px| Sphaeronaemella fimicola, the species figured here, has bean-shaped sticky spores presented in droplets at the ends of long stalks, ideal morphologies for the transport of spores via foraging insects]]
====Dung====
Like wrack, dung is highly nutritious and full of useful compounds for the growth of organisms. Unlike wrack, dung supports a vast array of fungi, each highly adpted to finding and colonizing it. There are several ways that this is accomplished, ways that may involve very complex steps. There exist a wide variety of [[coprophilous]] saprophytes and saprobes. These dung loving organisms are diverse in their distribution, physiology and dung preference. Coprophilous fungi disperse spores into the air that can stick to herbivore food sources, the spores are then digested by the herbivores which in turn begins their germination stage. Some fungi do not disperse their spores away from the dung and instead produce slimy spores that adhere to the bodies of foraging flies, beetles and mites. These foragers then become hosts to the spores and carry them to the next dung pile where the fungi begins anew.

==References==
1. Clegg & Mackean (2006, p. 296), fig 14.17—A diagram explaining the optimal conditions needed for successful growth and repair

2. D. Malloch, ''Natural History of Fungi'', (A part of the Mycology Web Pages, New Brunswick Museum. [http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/NaturalHistoryOfFungi/Saprotrophs.html] 2017)

3.

4.

Saprotrophic nutrition

2019-04-29T20:34:15Z

Lbackman:

[[File:Saprobes.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Some Shaggy Pholiota growing on trees, these fungi are wood-rotting saprobes]]'''Saprotrophic nutrition''' is an example of [[extracellular digestion]] of decayed organic matter by organisms such as fungi and [[soil bacteria]]. Saprotrophic microscopic fungi are often called '''saprobes'''; saprotrophic plants or bacterial flora are called '''saprophytes'''. The process is most often facilitated by active transport of such materials through endocytosis within the internal mycelium and its constituent hyphae. Fungi, bread mould, some protists, and many bacteria are saprophytic in nutrition. Saprobes often use their hyphae to penetrate wood and other solid materials. Saprotrophic bacteria are more adept at breaking down fluid and semi-fluid materials [2].

==Process==
In the presence of decaying organic matter, saprophytes and saprobes release digestive enzymes in their surrounding medium to convert complex organic molecules down to their simpler constituents. This simpler food is then absorbed through the body surface and utilized for various metabolic activities in the saprophyte. An example of this is the breakdown of starch into glucose or sucrose [1].

*Proteins are broken down into their amino acid components via the breaking of peptide bonds
*Lipids are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol
*Starch is broken down into simpler sugars

===Conditions===
Optimal growth and repair of saprophytic organisms requires favorable conditions [1].

*'''Presence of water''': 80–90% of the body of a fungi is comprised of water by mass. Fungi require excess water in their environment for intake due to the evaporation of internally retained water.
*'''Presence of oxygen''': Anaerobic conditions do not allow for the optimal growth of saprophytic organisms above media such as soil and water.
*'''Neutral pH''': pH levels around 7 are required.
*'''Moderate temperatures''': Optimal growth of saprotrophic organisms occurs at 25°C, most of these organisms can grow and thrive between the temperatures of 1°C and 35°C.

==Occurrence in Nature==
[[File:WhitevBrownRot.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Brown and white rot residues and fungal fruit bodies. a) Brown rot residue, b) brown rot fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola, c) white rot residue, d) white rot fungus, Fomes fomentarius]]
===Materials Colonized by Saprotrophic Organisms [2]===
====Wood====
Fungi are the fundamental decomposers of wood. Without the ecosystem services provided by fungi as wood decomposers, our forests would be filled with wood piles. There are two physiological types of wood-decay fungi recognized by those who work in the field: those that produce brown rots and those that produce white rots. These two physiological categories reflect the composition of the wood and the processes by which the fungi decompose the wood. Glucose stored in the wood is a vital nutrient for fungi that is sometimes difficult to obtain due to its binding in cellulose and lignin. Those fungi that digest the cellulose within the lignin matrix leave behind a mass of brown lignin. Those fungi that cause white rot dissolve the lignin first and leave behind the white fibrous cellulose for later digestion. The most efficient wood-decay fungi are members of the [[Basidiomycota]] and can be seen on decaying logs, stumps, and trees.
[[File:leaflitterfungi.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Mycelium (thread-like fungal structures) on leaf litter.]]
====Fallen Leaves/Leaf Litter====
Fallen leaves offer an abundant source of cellulose for forest ecosystems and their organisms. Some organisms begin their lives as endophytes and begin digesting the cellulose as soon as possible while other organisms occupy the leaves after they have fallen and begin rapidly digesting the cellulose. Leaves contain less lignin than wood so their soft parts are much easier to break down and digest. All types of leaves are colonized and decomposed by saprotrophic fungi.
[[File:wrackdecomposers.png|thumb|left|200px|(left) ''Dendryphiella salina'', (center) ''Sigmoidea marina'', (left) ''Acremonium fuci'']]
====Wrack====
Wrack is biomass consisting of vegetable matter made up of a variety of species such as algae, seagrass and some land plants that may have washed up on beaches. It is very high in nutrients and has been used by humans as a fertilizer. While wrack is highly nutritious, its chemical components are rather unusual and not typically found outside of marine ecosystems. Because of this, the fungi associated with the decomposition of wrack are also found in marine habitats. ''Dendryphiella salina'' is the chief fungi that decomposes wrack and can be found worldwide. It is a slow-growing mould that is often found in the company of ''Sigmoidea marina'' and ''Acremonium fuci''. Species of the [[ascomycete]] family Halosphaeriaceae are able to wait for wrack on beaches by attaching themselves to sand grains and releasing spores with bristle-like appendages that keep them suspended in seafoam.
[[File:Sporedrops.jpg|thumb|left| Sphaeronaemella fimicola, the species figured here, has bean-shaped sticky spores presented in droplets at the ends of long stalks, ideal morphologies for the transport of spores via foraging insects]]
====Dung====
Like wrack, dung is highly nutritious and full of useful compounds for the growth of organisms. Unlike wrack, dung supports a vast array of fungi, each highly adpted to finding and colonizing it. There are several ways that this is accomplished, ways that may involve very complex steps. There exist a wide variety of [[coprophilous]] saprophytes and saprobes. These dung loving organisms are diverse in their distribution, physiology and dung preference. Coprophilous fungi disperse spores into the air that can stick to herbivore food sources, the spores are then digested by the herbivores which in turn begins their germination stage. Some fungi do not disperse their spores away from the dung and instead produce slimy spores that adhere to the bodies of foraging flies, beetles and mites. These foragers then become hosts to the spores and carry them to the next dung pile where the fungi begins anew.

==References==
1. Clegg & Mackean (2006, p. 296), fig 14.17—A diagram explaining the optimal conditions needed for successful growth and repair

2. D. Malloch, ''Natural History of Fungi'', (A part of the Mycology Web Pages, New Brunswick Museum. [http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/NaturalHistoryOfFungi/Saprotrophs.html] 2017)

3.

4.

File:Sporedrops.jpg

2019-04-29T20:34:10Z

Lbackman:

Saprotrophic nutrition

2019-04-29T20:32:01Z

Lbackman:

[[File:Saprobes.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Some Shaggy Pholiota growing on trees, these fungi are wood-rotting saprobes]]'''Saprotrophic nutrition''' is an example of [[extracellular digestion]] of decayed organic matter by organisms such as fungi and [[soil bacteria]]. Saprotrophic microscopic fungi are often called '''saprobes'''; saprotrophic plants or bacterial flora are called '''saprophytes'''. The process is most often facilitated by active transport of such materials through endocytosis within the internal mycelium and its constituent hyphae. Fungi, bread mould, some protists, and many bacteria are saprophytic in nutrition. Saprobes often use their hyphae to penetrate wood and other solid materials. Saprotrophic bacteria are more adept at breaking down fluid and semi-fluid materials [2].

==Process==
In the presence of decaying organic matter, saprophytes and saprobes release digestive enzymes in their surrounding medium to convert complex organic molecules down to their simpler constituents. This simpler food is then absorbed through the body surface and utilized for various metabolic activities in the saprophyte. An example of this is the breakdown of starch into glucose or sucrose [1].

*Proteins are broken down into their amino acid components via the breaking of peptide bonds
*Lipids are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol
*Starch is broken down into simpler sugars

===Conditions===
Optimal growth and repair of saprophytic organisms requires favorable conditions [1].

*'''Presence of water''': 80–90% of the body of a fungi is comprised of water by mass. Fungi require excess water in their environment for intake due to the evaporation of internally retained water.
*'''Presence of oxygen''': Anaerobic conditions do not allow for the optimal growth of saprophytic organisms above media such as soil and water.
*'''Neutral pH''': pH levels around 7 are required.
*'''Moderate temperatures''': Optimal growth of saprotrophic organisms occurs at 25°C, most of these organisms can grow and thrive between the temperatures of 1°C and 35°C.

==Occurrence in Nature==
[[File:WhitevBrownRot.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Brown and white rot residues and fungal fruit bodies. a) Brown rot residue, b) brown rot fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola, c) white rot residue, d) white rot fungus, Fomes fomentarius]]
===Materials Colonized by Saprotrophic Organisms [2]===
====Wood====
Fungi are the fundamental decomposers of wood. Without the ecosystem services provided by fungi as wood decomposers, our forests would be filled with wood piles. There are two physiological types of wood-decay fungi recognized by those who work in the field: those that produce brown rots and those that produce white rots. These two physiological categories reflect the composition of the wood and the processes by which the fungi decompose the wood. Glucose stored in the wood is a vital nutrient for fungi that is sometimes difficult to obtain due to its binding in cellulose and lignin. Those fungi that digest the cellulose within the lignin matrix leave behind a mass of brown lignin. Those fungi that cause white rot dissolve the lignin first and leave behind the white fibrous cellulose for later digestion. The most efficient wood-decay fungi are members of the [[Basidiomycota]] and can be seen on decaying logs, stumps, and trees.
[[File:leaflitterfungi.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Mycelium (thread-like fungal structures) on leaf litter.]]
====Fallen Leaves/Leaf Litter====
Fallen leaves offer an abundant source of cellulose for forest ecosystems and their organisms. Some organisms begin their lives as endophytes and begin digesting the cellulose as soon as possible while other organisms occupy the leaves after they have fallen and begin rapidly digesting the cellulose. Leaves contain less lignin than wood so their soft parts are much easier to break down and digest. All types of leaves are colonized and decomposed by saprotrophic fungi.
[[File:wrackdecomposers.png|thumb|left|200px|(left) ''Dendryphiella salina'', (center) ''Sigmoidea marina'', (left) ''Acremonium fuci'']]
====Wrack====
Wrack is biomass consisting of vegetable matter made up of a variety of species such as algae, seagrass and some land plants that may have washed up on beaches. It is very high in nutrients and has been used by humans as a fertilizer. While wrack is highly nutritious, its chemical components are rather unusual and not typically found outside of marine ecosystems. Because of this, the fungi associated with the decomposition of wrack are also found in marine habitats. ''Dendryphiella salina'' is the chief fungi that decomposes wrack and can be found worldwide. It is a slow-growing mould that is often found in the company of ''Sigmoidea marina'' and ''Acremonium fuci''. Species of the [[ascomycete]] family Halosphaeriaceae are able to wait for wrack on beaches by attaching themselves to sand grains and releasing spores with bristle-like appendages that keep them suspended in seafoam.
====Dung====
Like wrack, dung is highly nutritious and full of useful compounds for the growth of organisms. Unlike wrack, dung supports a vast array of fungi, each highly adpted to finding and colonizing it. There are several ways that this is accomplished, ways that may involve very complex steps. There exist a wide variety of [[coprophilous]] saprophytes and saprobes. These dung loving organisms are diverse in their distribution, physiology and dung preference. Coprophilous fungi disperse spores into the air that can stick to herbivore food sources, the spores are then digested by the herbivores which in turn begins their germination stage. Some fungi do not disperse their spores away from the dung and instead produce slimy spores that adhere to the bodies of foraging flies, beetles and mites. These foragers then become hosts to the spores and carry them to the next dung pile where the fungi begins anew.

==Nutrient Cycling==

==References==
1. Clegg & Mackean (2006, p. 296), fig 14.17—A diagram explaining the optimal conditions needed for successful growth and repair

2. D. Malloch, ''Natural History of Fungi'', (A part of the Mycology Web Pages, New Brunswick Museum. [http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/mycologywebpages/NaturalHistoryOfFungi/Saprotrophs.html] 2017)

3.

4.

Saprotrophic nutrition

2019-04-29T20:26:47Z

Lbackman: /* Process */

Saprotrophic nutrition

2019-04-29T20:26:16Z

Lbackman:

Coprophilous

2019-04-29T20:26:10Z

2019-04-25T18:43:34Z

Lbackman:

[[File:Millipede.jpg|175px|thumb|right|Some species of Diplopods are obligate coprophages.]]
== Definition ==
'''Coprophagia''' or '''Coprophagy''' are terms associated with the act of consuming feces. The word is derivative of the Greek κόπρος (copros), "feces" and φαγεῖν (phagein), "to eat". ''Coprophagy'' comes in many different flavors; ''heterospecifics'' consume the feces of other species, ''allocoprophagy'' is the consumption of the feces of an individual of the same species and ''autocoprophagy'' is the consumption of one's own feces. It is typical of some animal species to eat feces, lagomorphs do so to allow tough plant material to digest more efficiently via two passages through the digestive tract. Other species may eat feces under specific behavioral conditions that are beneficial to the species, its symbiont and the surrounding environment. Coprophagous organisms are geographically and morphologically diverse and consist of mega-, macro-, and mesofauna.

[[File:dungbeetle.jpg|thumb|left|Two ''Scarabaeus sacer'' individuals rolling a ball of dung]]

== Invertebrates ==
Coprophagous insects, of the [[Hexapod]] group of the [[Arthropod]] phylum, consume and digest the feces of larger species such as mammals that have digestive tracts of lesser efficiency when it comes to breaking down nutrients in foods and making them biologically available for further uptake by plants or animals. In isopods, the inability to absorb nutrients from food in the posterior hindgut has been considered one reason for coprophagy [5]. When given the choice, isopods will participate in allocoprophagy or autocoprophatgy. The consumption of feces by isopods is thought to be linked to a deficiency in copper concentrations in the body due to the lack of availability of copper in leaf litter. Some species of flies and Dung Beetles are known to be coprophagic, they feed on the microorganism-rich excrement of other species. Dung Beetles make balls of dung by rolling them, they then bury the balls underground and lay there eggs within it.

A common temporary resident in the soils of temperate deciduous forests, the [[Hawthorn fly]] is plays an important role in leaf litter decomposition and exploits the rich resources in the feces of other soil organisms as another source of food [1]. Some coprophagic earthworms' affinity for feces enriched soil make them important disseminators of some microbial pathogens such as ''T. gondii'' [2].

[[File:Psilocybe.jpg|thumb|right|Some ''Psilocybe cubensis'' growing on a pile of dung.]]

== Coprophilous Fungi ==
Coprophilous Fungi such as species ''Cheilymenia'' are a type of [[saprobic]] [[ascomycete]] that feed and grow on the animal dung. The spores of this fungi are unwittingly consumed by animals from vegetation, then excreted with the plant matter. The fruiting bodies, or mushrooms, of these fungi can be seen on top of dung piles. What is most interesting is that there exist vast mycelial networks within the dung piles that allow for the succession of the fruiting bodies. [[Psilocybe]], [[Panaeolus]], and [[Coprinus]] species are also sometimes found growing out of dung and species [3].

[[File:Nutrient Cycling.jpg|thumb|left|A diagram of nutrient cycling]]

== Nutrient Cycling ==
Coprophagous organisms can help an ecosystem cycle nutrients by breaking down materials that are not yet biologically available to plants for uptake and use. Biological aging or ''scenescence'' is the gradual deterioration of the functional characteristics of organic material, it results in the loss of nutrients to the environment. While the scope of importance of coprophagy in the field is not yet known, it is postulated that coprophagy by saprophagous soil animals that preferentially feed on the feces of [[phytophagous insects]] may add a further trophic level to soil–plant–animal interactions and increase the diversity of involved processes [6]. It is also suggested that nutrients are released faster by the feces of phytophagous insects than by leaf litter and that coprophagy by isopods may contribute to fast cycling of nutrients in the growing season of deciduous forests. It is suggested that nutrients released by coprophagous isopods may contribute to the regrowth by defoliated trees [6]. One study has found that the presence of coprophagous isopods resulted in an increase in both Calcium concentration and the [[C/N ratio]] of soils over a twelve week period [6].

Coprophagous soil arthropods such as the ''Porcelio scaber'' isopod can increase nutrient release from animal frass and leaf litter via multiple digestions of the organic material [4]. The activity and respiration of soil microbes has been shown to increase in the presence of coprophagous [[detritivores]] in experimental settings [4]. Microbial inoculated feces represent microbial 'hotspots' in soil, they create gradients along airborne microbial metabolites that may attract foraging coprophagous isopods to the microbial hotspot [5]. Due to their feeding activity, terrestrial isopods contribute to decomposition processes by breaking down leaf litter and by promoting microbial activity. By ingesting their own feces which have been colonized by bacteria, the isopods can benefit from the presence of the microbes in their gut. The presence of such microbes in the gut helps the isopods to further absorb nutrients and then pass them into the soil [5].

== References ==
1. A. Špaldoňová, ''The role of soil microfauna in organic matter decomposition and stabilization'', (Charles University in Prague: Faculty of Science, 2014), 3.3.

2. S. Bettiol, et al., ''Earthworms as Paratenic Hosts of Toxoplasmosis in Eastern Barred Bandicoots in Tasmania'', (Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2000), 147.

3. H. Lepp, ''Dung Fungi'', (Information about Australia's Flora: Fungal ecology, 2013).

4. M. Madritch, et al., ''Canopy herbivory can mediate the influence of plant genotype on soil processes through frass deposition'', (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2007).

5. M. Zimmer, ''Nutrition in terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea): an evolutionary-ecological approach'', (Zoologists Institute, 2002).

6. M. Zimmer, et al., ''The role of coprophagy in nutrient release from feces of phytophagous insects'', (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2002).

File:Nutrient Cycling.jpg

2019-04-25T18:42:45Z

Lbackman:

Coprophagia

2019-04-25T18:40:30Z

Lbackman: /* Nutrient Cycling */

[[File:Millipede.jpg|175px|thumb|right|Some species of Diplopods are obligate coprophages.]]
== Definition ==
'''Coprophagia''' or '''Coprophagy''' are terms associated with the act of consuming feces. The word is derivative of the Greek κόπρος (copros), "feces" and φαγεῖν (phagein), "to eat". ''Coprophagy'' comes in many different flavors; ''heterospecifics'' consume the feces of other species, ''allocoprophagy'' is the consumption of the feces of an individual of the same species and ''autocoprophagy'' is the consumption of one's own feces. It is typical of some animal species to eat feces, lagomorphs do so to allow tough plant material to digest more efficiently via two passages through the digestive tract. Other species may eat feces under specific behavioral conditions that are beneficial to the species, its symbiont and the surrounding environment. Coprophagous organisms are geographically and morphologically diverse and consist of mega-, macro-, and mesofauna.

[[File:dungbeetle.jpg|thumb|left|Two ''Scarabaeus sacer'' individuals rolling a ball of dung]]

== Invertebrates ==
Coprophagous insects, of the [[Hexapod]] group of the [[Arthropod]] phylum, consume and digest the feces of larger species such as mammals that have digestive tracts of lesser efficiency when it comes to breaking down nutrients in foods and making them biologically available for further uptake by plants or animals. In isopods, the inability to absorb nutrients from food in the posterior hindgut has been considered one reason for coprophagy [5]. When given the choice, isopods will participate in allocoprophagy or autocoprophatgy. The consumption of feces by isopods is thought to be linked to a deficiency in copper concentrations in the body due to the lack of availability of copper in leaf litter. Some species of flies and Dung Beetles are known to be coprophagic, they feed on the microorganism-rich excrement of other species. Dung Beetles make balls of dung by rolling them, they then bury the balls underground and lay there eggs within it.

A common temporary resident in the soils of temperate deciduous forests, the [[Hawthorn fly]] is plays an important role in leaf litter decomposition and exploits the rich resources in the feces of other soil organisms as another source of food [1]. Some coprophagic earthworms' affinity for feces enriched soil make them important disseminators of some microbial pathogens such as ''T. gondii'' [2].

[[File:Psilocybe.jpg|thumb|right|Some ''Psilocybe cubensis'' growing on a pile of dung.]]

== Coprophilous Fungi ==
Coprophilous Fungi such as species ''Cheilymenia'' are a type of [[saprobic]] [[ascomycete]] that feed and grow on the animal dung. The spores of this fungi are unwittingly consumed by animals from vegetation, then excreted with the plant matter. The fruiting bodies, or mushrooms, of these fungi can be seen on top of dung piles. What is most interesting is that there exist vast mycelial networks within the dung piles that allow for the succession of the fruiting bodies. [[Psilocybe]], [[Panaeolus]], and [[Coprinus]] species are also sometimes found growing out of dung and species [3].

== Nutrient Cycling ==
Coprophagous organisms can help an ecosystem cycle nutrients by breaking down materials that are not yet biologically available to plants for uptake and use. Biological aging or ''scenescence'' is the gradual deterioration of the functional characteristics of organic material, it results in the loss of nutrients to the environment. While the scope of importance of coprophagy in the field is not yet known, it is postulated that coprophagy by saprophagous soil animals that preferentially feed on the feces of [[phytophagous insects]] may add a further trophic level to soil–plant–animal interactions and increase the diversity of involved processes [6]. It is also suggested that nutrients are released faster by the feces of phytophagous insects than by leaf litter and that coprophagy by isopods may contribute to fast cycling of nutrients in the growing season of deciduous forests. It is suggested that nutrients released by coprophagous isopods may contribute to the regrowth by defoliated trees [6]. One study has found that the presence of coprophagous isopods resulted in an increase in both Calcium concentration and the [[C/N ratio]] of soils over a twelve week period [6].

Coprophagous soil arthropods such as the ''Porcelio scaber'' isopod can increase nutrient release from animal frass and leaf litter via multiple digestions of the organic material [4]. The activity and respiration of soil microbes has been shown to increase in the presence of coprophagous [[detritivores]] in experimental settings [4]. Microbial inoculated feces represent microbial 'hotspots' in soil, they create gradients along airborne microbial metabolites that may attract foraging coprophagous isopods to the microbial hotspot [5]. Due to their feeding activity, terrestrial isopods contribute to decomposition processes by breaking down leaf litter and by promoting microbial activity. By ingesting their own feces which have been colonized by bacteria, the isopods can benefit from the presence of the microbes in their gut. The presence of such microbes in the gut helps the isopods to further absorb nutrients and then pass them into the soil [5].

== References ==
1. A. Špaldoňová, ''The role of soil microfauna in organic matter decomposition and stabilization'', (Charles University in Prague: Faculty of Science, 2014), 3.3.

2. S. Bettiol, et al., ''Earthworms as Paratenic Hosts of Toxoplasmosis in Eastern Barred Bandicoots in Tasmania'', (Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2000), 147.

3. H. Lepp, ''Dung Fungi'', (Information about Australia's Flora: Fungal ecology, 2013).

4. M. Madritch, et al., ''Canopy herbivory can mediate the influence of plant genotype on soil processes through frass deposition'', (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2007).

5. M. Zimmer, ''Nutrition in terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea): an evolutionary-ecological approach'', (Zoologists Institute, 2002).

6. M. Zimmer, et al., ''The role of coprophagy in nutrient release from feces of phytophagous insects'', (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2002).

Coprophagia

2019-04-25T18:30:28Z

Lbackman: /* References */

[[File:Millipede.jpg|175px|thumb|right|Some species of Diplopods are obligate coprophages.]]
== Definition ==
'''Coprophagia''' or '''Coprophagy''' are terms associated with the act of consuming feces. The word is derivative of the Greek κόπρος (copros), "feces" and φαγεῖν (phagein), "to eat". ''Coprophagy'' comes in many different flavors; ''heterospecifics'' consume the feces of other species, ''allocoprophagy'' is the consumption of the feces of an individual of the same species and ''autocoprophagy'' is the consumption of one's own feces. It is typical of some animal species to eat feces, lagomorphs do so to allow tough plant material to digest more efficiently via two passages through the digestive tract. Other species may eat feces under specific behavioral conditions that are beneficial to the species, its symbiont and the surrounding environment. Coprophagous organisms are geographically and morphologically diverse and consist of mega-, macro-, and mesofauna.

[[File:dungbeetle.jpg|thumb|left|Two ''Scarabaeus sacer'' individuals rolling a ball of dung]]

== Invertebrates ==
Coprophagous insects, of the [[Hexapod]] group of the [[Arthropod]] phylum, consume and digest the feces of larger species such as mammals that have digestive tracts of lesser efficiency when it comes to breaking down nutrients in foods and making them biologically available for further uptake by plants or animals. In isopods, the inability to absorb nutrients from food in the posterior hindgut has been considered one reason for coprophagy [5]. When given the choice, isopods will participate in allocoprophagy or autocoprophatgy. The consumption of feces by isopods is thought to be linked to a deficiency in copper concentrations in the body due to the lack of availability of copper in leaf litter. Some species of flies and Dung Beetles are known to be coprophagic, they feed on the microorganism-rich excrement of other species. Dung Beetles make balls of dung by rolling them, they then bury the balls underground and lay there eggs within it.

A common temporary resident in the soils of temperate deciduous forests, the [[Hawthorn fly]] is plays an important role in leaf litter decomposition and exploits the rich resources in the feces of other soil organisms as another source of food [1]. Some coprophagic earthworms' affinity for feces enriched soil make them important disseminators of some microbial pathogens such as ''T. gondii'' [2].

[[File:Psilocybe.jpg|thumb|right|Some ''Psilocybe cubensis'' growing on a pile of dung.]]

== Coprophilous Fungi ==
Coprophilous Fungi such as species ''Cheilymenia'' are a type of [[saprobic]] [[ascomycete]] that feed and grow on the animal dung. The spores of this fungi are unwittingly consumed by animals from vegetation, then excreted with the plant matter. The fruiting bodies, or mushrooms, of these fungi can be seen on top of dung piles. What is most interesting is that there exist vast mycelial networks within the dung piles that allow for the succession of the fruiting bodies. [[Psilocybe]], [[Panaeolus]], and [[Coprinus]] species are also sometimes found growing out of dung and species [3].

== Nutrient Cycling ==
Coprophagous organisms can help an ecosystem cycle nutrients by breaking down materials that are not yet biologically available to plants for uptake and use. Biological aging or ''scenescence'' is the gradual deterioration of the functional characteristics of organic material, it results in the loss of nutrients to the environment. Coprophagous soil arthropods such as the ''Porcelio scaber'' isopod can increase nutrient release from animal frass and leaf litter via multiple digestions of the organic material [4]. The activity and respiration of soil microbes has been shown to increase in the presence of coprophagous [[detritivores]] in experimental settings [4]. Microbial inoculated feces represent microbial 'hotspots' in soil, they create gradients along airborne microbial metabolites that may attract foraging coprophagous isopods to the microbial hotspot [5]. Due to their feeding activity, terrestrial isopods contribute to decomposition processes by breaking down leaf litter and by promoting microbial activity. By ingesting their own feces which have been colonized by bacteria, the isopods can benefit from the presence of the microbes in their gut. The presence of such microbes in the gut helps the isopods to further absorb nutrients and then pass them into the soil [5].

== References ==
1. A. Špaldoňová, ''The role of soil microfauna in organic matter decomposition and stabilization'', (Charles University in Prague: Faculty of Science, 2014), 3.3.

2. S. Bettiol, et al., ''Earthworms as Paratenic Hosts of Toxoplasmosis in Eastern Barred Bandicoots in Tasmania'', (Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2000), 147.

3. H. Lepp, ''Dung Fungi'', (Information about Australia's Flora: Fungal ecology, 2013).

4. M. Madritch, et al., ''Canopy herbivory can mediate the influence of plant genotype on soil processes through frass deposition'', (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2007).

5. M. Zimmer, ''Nutrition in terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea): an evolutionary-ecological approach'', (Zoologists Institute, 2002).

6. M. Zimmer, et al., ''The role of coprophagy in nutrient release from feces of phytophagous insects'', (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2002).