Producers, consumers and decomposers all have different roles in an ecosystem.
PRODUCERS: any plant
CONSUMERS: living things that consumes or eat other living things
DECOMPOSERS: An organism which consumers dead plants and animals and decomposes them. They break down this organic matter into simpler forms and release nutrients which can be taken up and used by other organisms. They capture solar energy and take in materials such as Nitrogen, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen. The nutrients are recycled back to the producers, but the energy is not recycled.
Above is an example of a regular food chain. Grass being the producer, the grasshoper the primary consumer, the snake the secondary consumer and the hawk being the tertiary consumer. However the decomposers also form a part of this foodchain but we normally do not include them. It is important to know that they lie at the end of the food chain and its what breaks down the dead hawk. These decomposers then take in those nutrients from the dead animal and place them back into the producer (the grass). So it is a cycle. The producer needs other things as well, such as the water and sun to grow, however decomposers give them the nutrients they need.
Producers, consumers and decomposers all have different roles in an ecosystem.
PRODUCERS: any plant
CONSUMERS: living things that consumes or eat other living things
DECOMPOSERS: An organism which consumers dead plants and animals and decomposes them. They break down this organic matter into simpler forms and release nutrients which can be taken up and used by other organisms. They capture solar energy and take in materials such as Nitrogen, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen. The nutrients are recycled back to the producers, but the energy is not recycled.
Examples of each are outlined below:
We can compare these roles, for example:
Grass -----> grasshoper -----> snake ------> hawk -------> (decomposer)
Above is an example of a regular food chain. Grass being the producer, the grasshoper the primary consumer, the snake the secondary consumer and the hawk being the tertiary consumer. However the decomposers also form a part of this foodchain but we normally do not include them. It is important to know that they lie at the end of the food chain and its what breaks down the dead hawk. These decomposers then take in those nutrients from the dead animal and place them back into the producer (the grass). So it is a cycle. The producer needs other things as well, such as the water and sun to grow, however decomposers give them the nutrients they need.