AP Environmental Science

Answer: C - The correct term for organisms that consume debris, dung, and litter is decomposers.

Key Takeaway: All producers, consumers, and decomposers are organized into food chains describing who eats whom within an ecosystem. Decomposers break down all dead consumers and producers, releasing their nutrients back into the ecosystem. This happens at every trophic level of the food chain. Prime examples of decomposers are fungi, bacteria, and snails.