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Nature's Cycles of Decay by Stormloverwolf


The beginning of Fall – the air becomes crisp, we begin to smell fires on the hearth as smoke wafts up through the chimneys, and of course the beautiful fall leaves delight our eyes.

Birth, growth, death and decay then we begin all over again in an endless life cycle of nature.

Each step in the cycle is important so that the next step and every step thereafter has a smooth transition.

Today we are talking just a bit about the importance of the process of decay. It can be sad for some to be heading into the winter season as our beautiful earth seems to die off and become cold and frigid. There is a lot of important work being done down in the soil, the roots, tree trunks, flower stems. Nature must go through this process of death and decay are extremely vital processes in nature that are a major role in the breakdown of organic matter, recycling it and then presenting it once again for new organisms to grow and mature and continue the life cycle of our planet.

Everything dies, this is an integral process of life and without the steps of decay and decomposing our world would not survive. We would become strangled with overgrowth and suffocated areas of dead plants and animals both. We need these necessary nutrients we receive from this process for new growth, new life.

Decomposition is the first stage in the recycling of nutrients that have been used by an organism (plant or animal) to build its body, and are then given back to the ecosystem upon its death.

It is the process whereby the dead tissues break down and are converted into simpler organic forms that are the food source for many of the species at the base of the ecosystems. The species that carry out the process of decomposition, and feed on the 'waste' products produced by it, are known as detritivores, which means literally 'feeders on dead or decaying organic matter'. Many of these decomposer species function in tandem or parallel with one another, with each being responsible for a specific state of aspect of the decomposing process, and together they are known as the detritivore community.

♥StormloverWolf♥



Sources: StormloverWolf, Kitchen Witch Alan Watson Feathersone, Trees for Life

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