Plan the perfect garden with our interactive tool →

Do Decomposers Return Nutrients Back Into the Soil?

Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images

Not everyone likes to think about decomposition, but messy and dark process ensures the continuation of life on the planet. While we tend to think of a food chain proceeding steadily upward from a lowly plant to a massive predator, decomposers are the ultimate receivers of the energy of such a system -- and they play an essential role in transforming this energy so it can be used in the cycle again.

The Food Web

Decomposers break down dead organisms and other organic matter. Thus they process energy from all levels of the food web, from primary producers like plants and lichens to apex predators. An African lion or grizzly bear may be fearsome and free of predators, but ultimately such beasts are consumed by the bacteria, fungi and other decomposers. Decomposers also feed on waste products such as shed skin cells and fallen leaves. In performing this service, decomposers liberate nutrients from immobilization -- their state when taken up in the tissues of plants and animals -- and mineralize them back into inorganic form, ready for use again by living systems.

Soil Nutrients

Decomposers do indeed return nutrients to the soil -- and to the atmosphere. They extract carbon from their food that, combined with oxygen, creates carbon dioxide. This might transfer to the atmosphere to be utilized again by photosynthesizing plants. Or it may incorporate with groundwater and leaching rainwater to form carbonic acid, a major force of chemical weathering; the substance is greatly responsible for the excavation of limestone and dolomite into caves, caverns, sinkholes and other karst landforms. Also released in decomposition are nutrient compounds of nitrogen and sulfur. Of the former, ammonium, nitrites and nitrates are immensely important for plant growth. Nitrifying bacteria supply such compounds to the soil; denitrifying bacteria transform nitrogen into its gaseous form to be released into the atmosphere.

  • Decomposers break down dead organisms and other organic matter.
  • In performing this service, decomposers liberate nutrients from immobilization -- their state when taken up in the tissues of plants and animals -- and mineralize them back into inorganic form, ready for use again by living systems.

Decomposers

Bacteria and fungi are some of the major decomposers in soil environments. Various kinds specialize in different parts of the decomposition process. Some fungi and bacteria set to work immediately upon, or even slightly before, the death of an organism, processing easily broken-down substances like sugars and amino acids.

Detritivores

Animal processors of organic materials in the soil are sometimes called detritivores, and are among the participants in the decomposition process. Some of the most prominent of these are the earthworms, members of the so-called soil "macrofauna" -- larger than microfauna like nematodes, smaller than megafauna like ground squirrels. Some species of these worms consume decaying leaf litter and organic particles, excreting nutrient-rich waste matter called castings that substantially elevate levels of humus, potash, phosphorus and nitrogen in the soil.

Related Articles

Which Organisms Are Characterized As Decomposers?
Which Organisms Are Characterized As Decomposers?
Types of Soil Bacteria
Types of Soil Bacteria
Is a Venus Flytrap an Autotroph or Heterotroph?
Is a Venus Flytrap an Autotroph or Heterotroph?
Characteristics of Carnivorous Plants
Characteristics of Carnivorous Plants
Characteristics of Green Algae & Plants
Characteristics of Green Algae & Plants
Communication Between Two Plant Cells
Communication Between Two Plant Cells
Types of Garden Worms
Types of Garden Worms
Why Do Plants Need Hydrogen?
Why Do Plants Need Hydrogen?
Too Much Magnesium for Plants
Too Much Magnesium for Plants
Types of Non Flowering Plants
Types of Non Flowering Plants
What Parts Do Non-Vascular Plants Have?
What Parts Do Non-Vascular Plants Have?
Ingredients in Trimec Plus Herbicide
Ingredients in Trimec Plus Herbicide
Components of Topsoil
Components of Topsoil
Vermicompost Analysis
Vermicompost Analysis
Temperate Rainforests & Their Soil Types
Temperate Rainforests & Their Soil Types
The Effects of Vitamin C & Folic Acid on the Growth of Plants
The Effects of Vitamin C & Folic Acid on the Growth...
Active Ingredients in Miracle Grow
Active Ingredients in Miracle Grow
About Vermicomposting With Feather Waste
About Vermicomposting With Feather Waste
What Do Plants Give Us?
What Do Plants Give Us?
Garden Guides
×