How does biogeochemical cycle help to maintain soil fertility and role of decomposers and why are they important in nutrient cycles?
The soil microbes mediate the biogeochemical cycling for soil mineral nutrients availability such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, which are the major growth promoting nutrients to the plants. The microbes use organic carbon as their energy source to drive the recycling process. Energy flows directionally through ecosystems, entering as sunlight and leaving as heat during energy transformation between trophic levels. Rather than flowing through an ecosystem, the matter that makes up organisms is conserved and recycled. Soil biogeochemical cycles are the foundation of ecosystem function and affect nutrient and energy flows that regulate productivity within both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Soils play a pivotal role in major global biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nutrient, and water), while hosting the largest diversity of organisms on land. Soils deliver fundamental ecosystem services, and management to change a soil process in support of one ecosystem service can affect other services. Decomposers, as well as scavengers, are very important in the food cycle as they play a critical role in the flow of energy through an ecosystem. They break down all the dead organisms into much more simpler inorganic materials which help the nutrients to be made available to primary producers. Decomposers play a crucial role in the natural cycle of nutrients by breaking down dead organic matter into simpler inorganic compounds that can be reused by plants and other organisms. This process as decomposition is essential for maintaining the balance of nutrients in ecosystems. Decomposition by soil organisms is at the center of the transformation and cycling of nutrients through the environment. Decomposition liberates carbon and nutrients from the complex material making up life forms-putting them back into biological circulation so they are available to plants and other organisms. Decomposers (fungi, bacteria, invertebrates such as worms and insects) have the ability to break down dead organisms into smaller particles and create new compounds. We use decomposers to restore the natural nutrient cycle through controlled composting. Decomposers are the link that keeps the circle of life in motion. Nutrient cycling is the biogeochemical process of moving organic and inorganic through the environment. Nutrient cycles help soils and the life in soils receive their needed nutrients on a daily basis. Different types of nutrient cycles are vital to maintain a sustainable life for an ecosystem.
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