General term to designate an organism that acquires most or all of its carbon and other nutrients from dead and decaying plant matter, dung or other non-living substrate. Saprotrophs can be ecologically classified in a number of ways. These long-lived fungi are a significant problem in second growth and managed forests.
Fungal rots are also common in houses, utility poles, pilings, etc.
Many common edible Sparassis crispa, Grifola frondosa, Hericium erinaceum, Laetiporus sulphureus, Cantherellus spp.