Dead wood

small remaining portion of a tree trunk with the roots still in the ground

Saprobionts are organisms that digest their food externally and then absorb the products. This process is called saprotrophic nutrition. Fungi are examples of saprobiontic organisms, which are a type of decomposer.

350px|right|thumb|Worker termite Xylophagy is a term used in ecology to describe the habits of an herbivorous animal whose diet consists primarily (often solely) of wood. The word derives from Greek ξυλοφάγος (xulophagos) "eating wood", from (') "wood" and (') "to eat". Animals feeding only on dead wood are called sapro-xylophagous or saproxylic.

a semi-enclosed cavity which has naturally formed in the trunk or branch of a tree

fallen dead trees and the remains of large branches on the ground in forests, rivers, or wetlands

any species of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot

thumb|Windsnap in the Bavarian Forest National Park thumb|An old dried out windthrow. Ystad. thumb|right|A large-scale event in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. thumb|Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola windsnapped by [[Hurricane Irma.]] thumb|Young Picea abies|spruce group marginal windthrow area twelve years after Kyrill thumb|Video of windthrow in Tammneeme, Estonia

thumb|right|Mycelial cord of fungi made up of a collection of [[hyphae; an essential part in the process of saprotrophic nutrition, it is used for the intake of organic matter through its cell wall. The network of hyphae (the mycelium) is fundamental to fungal nutrition.]]

dead or dying tree that is still standing

fallen tree that provides ecological facilitation to seedlings as it decays