AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Most decomposers are microscopic organisms, including protozoa and bacteria. Other decomposers are big enough to see without a microscope. They include fungi along with invertebrate organisms sometimes called detritivores, which include earthworms, termites, and millipedes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Decomposers are made up of the FBI (fungi, bacteria and invertebrates-worms and insects). They are all living things that get energy by eating dead animals and plants and breaking down wastes of other animals.

Detailed explanation-3: -Earthworms may seem gross, but they actually play an essential role in food chains and ecosystems. Earthworms are decomposers that break down and recycle the matter from dead plants and animals, as well as waste products, returning it back into the soil. This is how a compost pile works!

Detailed explanation-4: -Fungi release enzymes that decompose dead plants and animals. Fungi absorb nutrients from the organisms they are decomposing! There are over 50, 000 species of fungi. Most fungi are very, very small!