How Organisms That Decompose Provide the Soil With Nutrients

Symbiotic Relationship

• The symbiotic relationship between plants and organisms and how they react within the soil is vital to understanding how organisms provide additional nutrients to the soil as they decompose. Most organisms feed upon the very same minerals that plants do, which means they are consuming vital nutrients. The only way for those nutrients to be returned to the soil is for the eventual death and decomposition of the organisms, such as insects and animals.

Life Cycle

• Soil organisms, as well as others, use organic matter as food. As they eat, they break down the organic matter to feed themselves, but waste matter and excess nutrients are also released through the breakdown of the digestive process. This process, called mineralization, is necessary, because soil cannot break down the nutrients on its own. Instead, it relies upon organisms to break down those nutrients in waste form, as well as provide them through decomposition after death.

The Importance of Nitrogen

• Nitrogen is one of the most important elements for the ongoing life of plants. Not only is it responsible for chlorophyll, but it also helps with growth of the plants. The only naturally occurring form of nitrogen is the breakdown of organic matter or organisms that have nitrogen as part of their chemical makeup. When an organism decomposes, it releases its nitrogen back into the soil, making it available for plants and thus the overall cycle of soil replenishment.

Importance of Organic Microbes

• Organic material cannot break down on its own. Instead, it relies on organisms within the soil, such as mites or soil creatures, to break the material down into smaller pieces. Through the use of enzymes, organisms break up the chemical compounds of matter into carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and other nutrients, which are in part stored in their body for energy, or expelled as waste into the soil. Nitrogen and other nutrients are more easily absorbed from decomposing microbes than raw organic matter, which means when an organism dies the plants can more readily access the needed food.