Question:
What are decomposers ? What will be the consequences of their absence in an ecosystem ?
Solution:
Definition: Decomposers or microconsumers are saprophytes which obtain their nourishment from organic remains by secreting digestive
enzymes over the latter and absorbing the solubilised substances.
Absence of Decomposers:
- Organic remains will pile up leaving no space for new living beings,
- Biogeochemical cycling will stop so that raw materials will not be available to plants for manufacture of more food,
- In the absence of food, all living beings will die of starvation.