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What is the role of decomposers?

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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

The roles of decomposers play in an ecosystem include: a) the breakdown of larger pieces to smaller pieces, as in the reduction of a large branch into pieces of twigs and leaves; b) dissolving of water soluble nutrients that leach into the soil and streams; and, c) fungal and bacterial breakdown of inorganic nutrients and the degradation of the soil's humus layer to release them. read more

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