AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Decomposers feed on dead things: dead plant materials such as leaf litter and wood, animal carcasses, and feces. They perform a valuable service as Earth’s cleanup crew. Without decomposers, dead leaves, dead insects, and dead animals would pile up everywhere. Imagine what the world would look like!

Detailed explanation-2: -Scavengers and decomposers get their energy by eating dead plants or animals. Rotting food (or food that’s gone ‘bad’) doesn’t look or smell great but it contains a wealth of nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous.

Detailed explanation-3: -Examples of decomposers are fungi and bacteria that obtain their nutrients from a dead plant or animal material. They break down the cells of dead organisms into simpler substances, which become organic nutrients available to the ecosystem.

Detailed explanation-4: -Saprophytes are the animals that feed on dead and decaying animals. For example, fungi, mushrooms, molds, etc. A process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion that occurs in the processing of decayed organic matter is termed as saprophytic mode of nutrition.