feast for decomposers

Question 1

what are decomposers?

Answer 1

Decomposers are fungi, bacteria, worms, and other small organisms that specialize in breaking down dead matter.

Question 2

what can be used for energy or growth?

Answer 2

Bones, droppings, and other dead matter may not seem like food, but they contain materials that decomposers can use for energy and growth

Question 3

what else do decomposers make and why is it good?

Answer 3

Decomposers don’t just release carbon from dead matter, they also make other materials available to an ecosystem, such as nitrogen. Nitrogen is a critical nutrient for plant growth.

Question 4

without decomposers what will happen?

Answer 4

carbon would get trapped in the dead matter.

Question 5

without worms and their casts what wouldnt we have?

Answer 5

Without worms (and their poop, called “casts”), we would not have the rich, fertile soil needed to grow the food we eat.

Question 6

what do worms do?

Answer 6

Worms take large pieces of things like dead leaves, manure, and even cardboard, pull them below the surface of the soil, shred them, and digest them until they are small enough for bacteria to consume

Question 7

how much casts can an earthworm produce up too?

Answer 7

One earthworm can produce about 10 pounds of casts in one year

Question 8

what do different decomposers have when an animal dies?

Answer 8

Different decomposers have different jobs and eat different types of dead matter

Question 9

what things so decomposing insects eat?

Answer 9

Decomposing insects eat all kinds of dead matter: dead plants, animal carcasses, and animal droppings

Question 10

what do they do when they decompose?

Answer 10

As they eat, they shred dead matter into smaller pieces, allowing tiny decomposers like bacteria to break the dead matter down even more.

Question 11

what has to do with the timing of the insects?

Answer 11

In fact, the timing of each insect appearing after the death of an organism is so predictable that scientists use the presence of certain insects to tell them how long an organism has been dead.

Question 12

how much bacteria is in the soil?

Answer 12

Many billions of tiny bacteria live in the soil. These microscopic decomposers work all the time to break down dead matter

Question 13

what happens after the bigger decomposers break down the matter?

Answer 13

After worms and other bigger decomposers have broken dead matter down into smaller pieces, soil bacteria break down the dead matter even further.

Question 14

what do many kinds of bacteria preform?

Answer 14

Many kinds of bacteria perform cellular respiration, taking the carbon trapped in dead matter and putting it back into the ecosystem as carbon dioxide.

Question 15

what happens with bacteria and temperature?

Answer 15

Some are very sensitive to changes in temperature and chemical composition of soil, while others are very hardy and can handle severe heat and cold

Question 16

where is fungi hidden?

Answer 16

Fungus is hidden everywhere in the soil, and sometimes it grows upward to form mushrooms in all colors and shapes

Question 17

what is soil fungi good at doing?

Answer 17

Soil fungus is good at decomposing tough dead matter, like dead leaves and pieces of wood, and getting the energy storage molecules that were trapped inside

Question 18

how are soil fungi helpful?

Answer 18

Soil fungi are not plants, but they are often helpful to plants. Some fungi in the soil help protect the roots of plants. They grow around roots, helping the plant get nutrients from a larger area of the soil and hiding the roots from pests.

Question 19

what do the fungi look like?

Answer 19

Some look a lot like the mushrooms you eat, and some look like orange fans or black bubbles.

Question 20

what do the wood decay fungi help decompose?

Answer 20

These are wood-decay fungi, which help decompose things like fallen branches and even whole trees.

Question 21

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Answer 21

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Question 22

what can only wood decay organisms do?

Answer 22

Wood-decay fungi are the only organisms that have evolved to decompose lignin, a substance found in wood

Question 23

what are the wood decay fungi?

Answer 23

fungi are the main decomposers in forest ecosystems, where there are lots of large pieces of wood to break down

Question 24

what does mold grow?

Answer 24

it grows blue and white fuzz

Question 25

what is mold?

Answer 25

Mold is a kind of fungus that helps decompose things like fruit and bread, using the energy storage molecules trapped inside to get energy through the process of cellular respiration.

Question 26

what can happen if a fruit falls to the ground?

Answer 26

When a peach falls to the ground, mold grows quickly, breaking the fruit down. This allows the fruit to provide nutrients for other organisms in the soil, which break it down further into nutrients for new plants to use

Question 27

what are aquatic bacteria?

Answer 27

Aquatic bacteria are one of the many kinds of decomposers that help break down the body of a whale that dies in the ocean

Question 28

what happens when a whale gets decomposed?

Answer 28

After sharks and other fish eat the large chunks of flesh, and smaller animals like marine worms eat the bits of meat that are left over, bacteria begin to feed off the fat left in the whale’s bones. These bacteria use the esm in the whales body to relase energy

Question 29

what can the aquatic bacteria help?

Answer 29

The bacteria also provide nourishment for clams, sea snails, and other animals

Question 30

how long will it usually take to decompose a whales body?

Answer 30

This can go on for decades, with the carcass of one whale providing decomposers with food for 80 years