The most significant effect of the microbes on earth is their ability to recycle the primary elements that make up all living systems, especially carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. Primary production involves photosynthetic organisms which take up CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to organic material. If herbivores are removed from a food chain then carnivores will starve and die and producers are also affected and may die due to competition for space and nutrients. It is not possible to remove a trophic level without causing damage to the ecosystem as they are interlinked.