Final answer:
Decomposers are the final link in the energy flow in a food chain or web, breaking down dead organic matter and recycling nutrients.
Step-by-step explanation:
Decomposers are organisms that consume organic waste and dead organisms, breaking them down into simpler substances and releasing nutrients back into the ecosystem. They play a vital role in recycling nutrients and maintaining the balance in an ecosystem.
Decomposers play a crucial role by breaking down dead matter and waste, which recycles nutrients back into the ecosystem. In any food chain, such as the one including phytoplankton, krill, fish, and shark in an ocean ecosystem, producers like phytoplankton are at the beginning, harnessing energy through photosynthesis. Herbivores consume these producers, and carnivores may consume the herbivores or other carnivores. However, decomposers work at all trophic levels by decomposing dead organisms and organic wastes, thereby closing the loop in the energy flow and nutrient cycle.