Key concepts
- Decomposition contributes to nutrient recycling.
- Nutrients also enter living biomass.
- Availability depends on the wider ecosystem.
The lesson
Decomposers, including fungi and bacteria, participate in recycling elements from organic matter. Some released nutrients become available to other organisms; some are taken up into microbial biomass.
A nutrient cycle therefore includes storage as well as release. A field observation does not measure nutrient concentration, availability to roots or fertilizer response. Those questions require their own samples and measurements.
Further reading
A moment to apply it
Put it into practice
Draw a nutrient pathway from plant litter through a decomposer to another organism. Include a storage pool and one process you would need to measure.
Keep in mind
Cycling is a process over time; a species list is a record of detected organisms.
Educational material. Check the linked reading and distinguish general principles from evidence about a particular specimen or field site. Lessons do not establish edibility or causal effects on livestock performance.