Importance of Decomposers

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

At the tip of the trophic pyramid is a group of living beings performing the function of decomposing organic matter from all species, so that it can be reintegrated into the energetic dynamics of ecosystems, as an essential part of the biogeochemical cycles that have allowed life to be sustained for millions of years. years. Once an individual perishes, no matter what kingdom he may have belonged to, according to taxonomic criteria, no matter what life history he may have experienced, or even the dimensions of the inert mass that he has left, as his body is made up of organic and inorganic molecules full of the same chemical elements as the rest of the environment, becomes a source of energy and nutrients available to those who are still alive, thanks to the action of a substantial number of fungi, bacteria, arthropods and others bugs.

Biodynamics, ecology and sustainability

The process of decomposition of inert matter begins from the action of the bacteria themselves that were living inside the body, as part of the flora and symbiotic fauna propitiated in a coevolutionary way, giving way to the molecular degeneration of the proteins and fats that constitute the tissues, making them rapidly more fragile and vulnerable which allows the access and action of all other decomposers from the external environment, a phenomenon that during life is impossible thanks to the defense generated between the external layers of the body and the intervention of the immune system, hence such decomposition is not so easy while the individual is with life.

The fungi on their own begin to integrate into the equation of this temporary ecosystem due to the multiple spores that always persist dispersed in the environment, finding the opportunity to develop in all its splendor the nutritious work of disincorporating nitrogen from amino acids that had formed the proteins, in turn releasing other elements such as phosphorus and sulfur so that they return to the soil in their original form. molecular.

Various arthropods with scavenging and saprophytic habits also come together at this banquet, since there are thousands of resources that they can take advantage of depending on the species and the stage of life in which they are, devoting larvae and adults to different dishes within the menu of the most resistant tissues that are increasingly disintegrated body.

You come from the ground and you return to the ground

Earthworms finally make an appearance very discreetly through the fundamental role of integrating all this new organic matter into the other elements that make up the soil, homogenizing the substances with the substrate that will serve to give continuity to life under new forms and individuals.

Finally, the hardest part of the path towards the biodegradation of non-living beings is represented by the bones of vertebrate animals, since even the lignin contained in the Plant cells from the bark of trees end up being degraded by fungi, no matter how hard the trunks were, but when it comes to bones, history becomes considerably different, since this calcareous structure is so molecularly stable and resistant that more forceful chemical and physical resources are required to disintegrate it, thus there that the bones, as well as other remains whose composition is predominantly made up of minerals such as calcium and silicon, end up becoming the most long-lived that maintain through time the record of who at some point existed, being able to decipher part of their lived history through the information protected between their molecules and shapes.

balance for abundance

The extraordinary ability of decomposing organisms to simplify the complex molecules that allowed life is one of nature's most important strategies. for the maintenance of the balance of the existing matter on the planet, turning all this into a source of abundant permanent resources for the maintenance of all the species.

Time meshed only with chemical and physical environmental factors, does not establish a sufficiently effective dynamic to guarantee the maintenance The surface of the soil is free of corpses, and the accumulation of a large amount of substances can be produced, which instead of being easily usable by the rest of living beings, they would have a high toxic and polluting potential, an overwhelming example of this is represented by oil, which, no matter how useful it may be, may be to humans, it is an accumulation of organic compounds that are too complex to be used by the rest of the inhabitants with who share the planet and everything as a consequence of a massive deficiency in the action of decomposers in one or several given moments of the entire evolutionary history.

References

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