Question

Write two examples of decomposers?

Answer 1

Hint: Decomposers are the organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms by carrying out the process of decomposition. ( Decomposition, here mentioned is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide , water, simple sugars and mineral salts).

Complete solution:
Decomposition is the natural process of dead animal or plant tissue being rotted or broken down.
All living organisms on earth will eventually die someday. Many plants naturally complete their life cycle and die within a year, but even the longer lived plants such as trees have a limited natural life span. Nearly all animals in nature will succumb to disease, being killed or being eaten, it is very rare for some organisms to make it up to old age. If every organism that died did not decay and rot away, the earth's surface would soon be covered in a deep layer of dead bodies that would remain intact indefinitely. A similar situation would arise if animal and plant wastes never rotted away. Fortunately this does not happen because dead organisms and animal wastes become food or a habitat for some other organisms to live on, and those organisms are the decomposers.

Just like herbivores and predators, decomposers are also heterotrophic(heterotrophic means that they do not prepare their own food), that means they receive food from outside. So now the question arises that what is the source of nutrition for decomposers, the answer to this is that they use organic substrates to get their energy, carbon and nutrients for growth and development. There are two terms which are used interchangeably but there is a little difference in the meaning of those words, those terms are decomposer and detritivores, the detritivores ingest and digest dead matter internally, while decomposers directly absorb nutrients through external chemical and biological processes. Thus, invertebrates such as earthworms, woodlice, and sea cucumbers are technically detritivores, not decomposers( like as we saw according to the definition), since they must ingest nutrients, they are unable to absorb them externally.

The examples of decomposers are mushroom, slime mould, beetle, fungi and many more.

Note: There are many decomposers around us that make the earth a better place to live in by sorting out all the dead and decaying matter and using them for their livelihood, such special organisms they are. Typical examples of decomposers are Beetles, snails, vultures, slime mould, fungi and many more.