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Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organisms and release the nutrients from the dead matter into the environment around them. Decomposition relies on chemical processes similar to digestion in animals; in fact, many sources use the words digestion and decomposition interchangeably. [ 1 ]
Prime decomposers are bacteria or fungi, though larger scavengers also play an important role in decomposition if the body is accessible to insects, mites and other animals. Additionally, [ 3 ] soil animals are considered key regulators of decomposition at local scales but their role at larger scales is unresolved.
Fungi, acting as decomposers, are important in today's terrestrial environment. During the Carboniferous period, fungi and bacteria had yet to evolve the capacity to digest lignin, and so large deposits of dead plant tissue accumulated during this period, later becoming the fossil fuels. [9]
Like sea angels, they take in organic moles by consuming other organisms, so they are commonly called consumers. Heterotrophs can be classified by what they usually eat as herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, or decomposers. [1] On the other hand, autotrophs are organisms that use energy directly from the sun or from chemical bonds.
In water ecosystems, relatively little waste collects on the water bed, and so the progress of decomposition in water takes a more important role. Investigating the level of inorganic salts in sea ecosystems shows that unless there is an especially large supply, the quantity increases from winter to spring—but is normally extremely low in summer.
Secondary production is the energy that herbivores and decomposers use and thus depends on primary productivity. [16] Primarily herbivores and decomposers consume all the carbon from two main organic sources in aquatic ecosystems , autochthonous and allochthonous . [ 16 ]
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Because these bacteria play a role in decomposition after death, putrefying bacteria also play a key role in the nitrogen cycle. They deconstruct and convert substances from dead organisms so nitrifying bacteria can then convert these products into a usable form of nitrogen.