Question

Why are micro-consumers called reducers?

Answer 1

They are responsible for the process of breakdown of various organic substances that includes the dead and decaying of an organism and thus undergo decomposition. The most commonly includes the fungi and the bacteria. These organisms do the method of decomposition that all living organisms endure when they die.

Complete answer
Micro-consumers are also called decomposers or reducers. Decomposers are the organisms that break down the dead plants and animals. This process of decaying dead matter is called decomposition. Decomposers are very useful in the process of decaying dead organisms and thus recycle the nutrients back to the soil from their body. The decomposition done by the reducers is due to their mode and need for survival. They consume their energy and nutrients from other organisms or in the form of organic substances that are not decomposed thus they are said to be heterotrophic in nature. They absorb the required nutrition from the dead organisms and this helps them in growth and development and to reproduce more species of their own. Thus they are placed at the end of the food chain and are named as the dead eating organisms. Decomposers and detritivores help in recycling the waste material that are fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and flies, etc. They undergo decomposition in five steps that include bloat, active decay, advanced decay, and dry/remains.

Note:
Some organisms perform an analogous operation as decomposers, and are generally known as decomposers, however are technically detritivores. They are differentiated on the basis of the methods by which they break down the organic substances and undergo decomposition. The detritivores will digest the organic substances at intervals so that they gain energy and nutrition from them.