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What is the Role of Decomposers in the Nitrogen Cycle?

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 9th, 2023

The Role of Decomposers in the Nitrogen Cycle is that they convert complex organic materials into simpler components. Decomposers in the soil, such as bacteria and fungi, convert organic waste back into ammonium. Most living things cannot use nitrogen in this form; it must first be fixed or reduced (combined with hydrogen) to ammonia. This is one of the significant roles of decomposers in the nitrogen cycle.

Table of content

1. Role of Decomposers in the Nitrogen Cycle
2. What is the Role of Decomposers in the Nitrogen Cycle?

Role of Decomposers in the Nitrogen Cycle

The chemicals required for life on Earth are recycled through several different processes, and the most complicated of these is the nitrogen cycle.

Carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus are the other three primary cycles.
Nitrogen is required by all living things to produce organic compounds such as proteins, nucleic acids, and amino acids.
Nitrogen accounts for nearly 80% of the nitrogen gas in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Life on Earth depends on the creatures that live at the decomposer level of a biome.
They decompose dead plant and animal debris, allowing the ecosystem to reuse the nutrients.
Fungi are the primary decomposers in many ecosystems, particularly forests.
One of their primary functions is to assist dead decaying matter in releasing nitrogen and phosphorus.
They accomplish this through specialized proteins and enzymes in their cell walls and hyphae (root-like filaments).
Large pieces of decomposing material, like wood, can be penetrated by fungi’s hyphae and broken down by their lignin-digesting enzymes.
At the level of decomposers, bacteria are also essential organisms.

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