by
Alicea Bigby-Smart
ID #: 12480025
Montego Bay Community College
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Council of Community Colleges of
Jamaica for the Award of the Bachelors of Science Degree in Environmental Studies.
Lecturer: Mrs. Shaun deSouza
Date of Submission: April 20, 2013
Many biochemical processes occur within the soil environment as a result of decomposition activities. These activities are facilitated by a number of organisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae. These biochemical processes include a lot of chemical reactions, mineralization etc. and involves organic and inorganic compounds.
| Decomposition in the soil is the natural process of dead animal or plant tissue being rotted or broken down. The result of |
|decomposition is that the building blocks required for life can be recycled. |
|Decomposers are organisms whose ecological function involves the recycling of nutrients by performing the natural process of decomposition |
|as they feed on dead or decaying organisms. They are the primary agents involved in decomposition in the soil. They play an important role |
|in the formation of soil organic matter by degrading energy rich organic compounds and, in the process, by generating |
|more refractory materials such as humus. |
|Examples of decomposers in the soil are fungi, algae and bacteria that obtain their nutrients from dead plant or animal
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