What is the role of a decomposer?

Decomposers are very important for the proper functioning of the Ecosystem and Environment. When a plant or animal dies, it leaves behind nutrients and energy in the organic material that comprised its body. read more

Decomposers play a critical role in the environment. They must break down deceased living matter and allow nutrients to reenter the soil and be cycled through an ecosystem. read more

Decomposers play a vital role in the food chain and give it a cyclical nature. Plants need sunlight and nutrients in the soil for photosynthesis, and decomposers are responsible for returning nutrients from dead organic matter back into the soil; the living things at the beginning of the food chain rely on processes at the end of the chain. read more

A decomposer is an organism that breaks down dead plant or animal matter. This may arouse the yuk response in many readers, but the fact is that ecosystems could not function without decomposers. This is because ecosystems depend on recycling in order to function. read more