In a food chain, plants are called...
AnswerProducers
Producers make energy from sunlight; consumers eat them; decomposers recycle the leftovers.
Science · Facts & stats
Ecology facts & stats
7 fact-checked facts about how living things fit together, each with the reason behind it. 5 more are in today's round and join this page after it closes.
The basics
Which organisms break down dead material and return nutrients to soil?
AnswerFungi and bacteria
Decomposers close the nutrient loop that keeps ecosystems running.
Going deeper
Which cycle moves nitrogen between air, soil and living things?
AnswerThe nitrogen cycle, driven largely by soil bacteria
Bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen into forms plants can use; fertiliser overuse disrupts the cycle.
What is 'carrying capacity'?
AnswerThe maximum population an environment can sustain
Exceed it and resources crash, followed by the population.
Rewilding means...
AnswerRestoring natural processes and missing species to an area
Returning wolves to Yellowstone changed elk behaviour, which let willows and beavers recover: a trophic cascade.
Expert level
Which concept describes different species using the same resources in different ways to coexist?
AnswerNiche partitioning
Partitioning by time, space or food lets similar species share a habitat.
Mycorrhizal fungi help plants by...
AnswerExtending root networks to trade nutrients for sugars
Around 90% of plants partner with mycorrhizae, which also move carbon into soils.
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