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: -They help break down or reduce organic material into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces are then eaten by decomposers. Decomposers eat dead materials and break them down into chemical parts. Nitrogen, carbon and other nutrients can then be used again by plants and animals.

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: -Different decomposers Each helps recycle food in its own way. Fungi release chemicals to break down dead plants or animals into simple substances. They absorb some of these substances for growth, but others enter the soil. Earthworms digest rotting plant and animal matter as they swallow soil.