Question

How do earthworms return nutrients to the ecosystem?

Answer 1

Ecosystem:

1. The ecosystem is the interactions between abiotic and biotic components of the environment.
2. Biotic components include all living beings from microorganisms to higher organisms.
3. Abiotic components include non-living things like water, soil, minerals and wind etc.
4. Each component in an ecosystem plays an important role. Plants act as producers and heterotrophic animals forms different levels of the food chain.
5. The energy is transferred from one to other and after the death of these organisms, the body starts decaying body.
6. This decaying organic matter is decomposed by decomposers of soil.
7. Earthworms also act as decomposers. This decomposed organic matter is further converted into nutrients by other microorganisms.
8. These nutrients which contain nitrogen and phosphorus, are provided to plants and again these become part of the food chain.
9. This way nutrients are returned to the ecosystem.