During review of an article I found an erroneous sentence:

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> The known predators of the plant are sheep, donkeys ...
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I am an engineer, with not so much knowledge in ecology. Based on my earlier studies I suggested to change *predators* to *consumers*. I checked it with a search on the net. Surprisingly I found too few hits in my search.

*Consumers of a plant* is acceptable? Can you recommend alternatives?
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According to the wikibook [Predation and Herbivory](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ecology/Predation_and_Herbivory):

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> ecologically, predation is defined as any interaction between two organisms that results in a flow of energy between them. This definition is applicable to both plants and animals. There are four commonly recognized types of predation: (1) carnivory, (2) herbivory, (3) parasitism, and (4) mutualism.
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So, this reference, in ecological situations, clearly accepts an animal eating a plant as a "predator" of that plant.

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However, in more general non-technical contexts, dictionary.reference.com defines a [predator](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/predator?s=t) as (depending on which of its sources you use) either:

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> any organism that exists by preying upon other organisms
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or

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> any carnivorous animal
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The second definition would preclude its usage for eating plants. The first hinges upon the definition of "preying". Using dictionary.reference.com again, [prey](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/prey) as a verb is:

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> to seize and devour prey
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where that prey (as a noun) is:

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> an animal hunted or seized for food
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I would therefore suggest that unless you are talking to a technical ecological (or possibly biological?) crowd, **predator** would not be an appropriate term.

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Possible terms (thanks to Hotlicks for the first one, and typing it into [thesaurus.com](http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/eater?s=t) gave the other two):

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> **eater**: from the verb to [eat](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/eater?s=t): to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment
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> **devourer**: from the verb to [devour](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/devourer?s=t): to swallow or eat up hungrily, voraciously, or ravenously
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> **[consumer](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/consumer?s=t)**: an organism, usually an animal, that feeds on plants or other animals.
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Most of the online definitions of 'predator' such as [the ODO](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/predator), [the Cambridge](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/predator) and [the Macmillan](http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/predator) define 'predator' as an animal which eats other animals so it would seem that to describe a herbivore as a predator of plants is not really valid. 

Not only that but there is a difference between predation on animals and the majority of grazing because predation involves killing, or at least seriously and permanently injuring, the target: whereas most grazing involves eating only part of the plant which, in most cases, regenerates. Creatures like us who eat the entire root, or the whole, of some plants like potatoes and carrots are only a subset of herbivores and omnivores.