Question

Explain why there is no waste in the forest.

Answer 1

Forest is a large ecosystem that consists of large varieties of species. The forests are dominantly populated by trees that are primary producers and form the base of the food chain. The trees act as a home for animals and herbivores feed on them. The herbivores are eaten by carnivores or omnivores. The waste in the forest is majorly plant and animal waste when they die. This waste acts as food for decomposer microbes.

Complete answer: The forests are large land areas covered by a large amount of vegetation and a dense population of different types of species ranging from animals to microbes. The major inhabitants of a forest are trees. Trees are the primary producers. They use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. The forest comprises large food chains that are intermixed or repeated in cycles. The herbivore animals of the forest that eat only vegetation feed on trees and take energy to live from trees. Also, many animals make the trees their homes. Herbivores act as food for carnivore animals that depend on the flesh of other animals for their food and energy. The omnivores are animals that eat both vegetation and flesh of other animals. Both carnivores and omnivores feed on herbivores. When these carnivores or omnivores die they are eaten by scavengers that feed on dead animal meat. As the forest consists of dense populations, death is a very common phenomenon in forests. Many plants and animals die daily in a forest. These dead organisms contribute to other waste material of the forest including twigs, leaves, insect droppings, etc. Except for the primary producers, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores the forest consists of key elements of the food chain called decomposers. Decomposers are majorly microbes that degrade the forest waste and eat upon it. Many fungi species like mushrooms act as key decomposers in breaking down forest waste and clearing it by feeding over it. As the forest waste is biodegradable, it is cleaned by decomposers and by natural decomposition resulting from seasonal changes. The decomposed waste then acts as compost for trees to grow. Thus, forests keep themselves clean by regular decomposition of forest waste by decomposing species.

Note: Without decomposers, the Earth would turn into a pile of forest waste. The forests are very large areas and thus produce tons of waste yearly. If decomposers do not reduce them and degrade the waste, the forests would be covered under piles of waste. Mushrooms are the key decomposers of any forest. They feed and grow over dead and decaying matter.