Question

Food web starting with sun and pointing to grasshopper and squirrel; Grasshopper pointing to squirrel, wolf, and snake; squirrel pointing to wolf, snake, and bird; wolf pointing to decomposition with worms and mushrooms; snake pointing to wolf and decomposition with worms and mushrooms; bird pointing to decomposition with worms and mushrooms; decomposition pointing to the sun stating soil nutrients.

If we removed the decomposers from this food web, how would it affect the balance of the ecosystem?

There would be an increase in dead matter and a lack of nutrients in the soil.
There would be a decrease in dead matter and a lack of nutrients in the soil.
There would be an increase in dead matter and an increase in nutrients in the soil.
There would be a decrease in dead matter and an increase in nutrients in the soil.

Answer 1

There would be an increase in dead matter and a lack of nutrients in the soil.

Step-by-step explanation:

Decomposers break down dead matter which introduce the nutrients back into the soil.

Answer 2

The correct answer is A. There would be an increase in dead matter and a lack of nutrients in the soil.

Step-by-step explanation:

Decomposers such as mushrooms are organisms that break apart dead matter, this is the last step or final link in a food web because decomposers break apart any death organism including top predators and they return the nutrients taken by these to the soil, which is necessary for producers or plants to exists. Due to this, if decomposers were removed dead matter would increase as this would not be broken apart by decomposers; and there would be fewer nutrients returning to the soil which would affect producers such as plants.