Final answer:
Nitrogen fixation and decomposition are essential components of the nitrogen cycle, offering unique benefits. Nitrogen fixation provides natural fertilizer and supports sustainable agriculture, while decomposition recycles nutrients, ensuring ecosystem stability.
Step-by-step explanation:
Comparing the benefits of nitrogen fixation and decomposition shows that both are vital processes in the nitrogen cycle, delivering different but complementing advantages to ecosystems. The benefits of nitrogen fixation, particularly through symbiotic relationships between legumes and soil bacteria, include providing a natural source of plant fertilizer by reducing atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia. This is crucial for plant growth and supports sustainable agriculture by minimizing chemical fertilizers. Soil health is improved as it becomes naturally fertilized. In contrast, the benefits of decomposition involve decomposers breaking down organic compounds, releasing nitrogen as ammonium ions which are then converted to nitrates by nitrifying bacteria. Plants can absorb these forms of nitrogen directly, supporting primary production. Additionally, decomposers ensure the continued stability of ecosystems by recycling essential nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil where they can be reused, maintaining the balance within the nitrogen cycle.