Biodiversity is really important for keeping ecosystems healthy and stable. Different types of living things each have special jobs they do. Here are the main roles:
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Producers:
- What they do: They make their own energy using sunlight or certain chemicals. This process is called photosynthesis.
- Fun fact: Plants, especially tiny plants in the ocean called phytoplankton, create about half of the world's oxygen. On land, regular plants produce around 123 billion metric tons of living matter every year.
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Consumers:
- What they do: They eat producers (like plants) or other consumers (like animals) to get energy.
- Fun fact: Herbivores (plant-eaters) make up about 10-20% of the energy produced by plants. Carnivores (meat-eaters) represent about 5-15% of the living matter in ecosystems.
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Decomposers:
- What they do: They break down dead plants and animals, which helps recycle nutrients back into the soil.
- Fun fact: Fungi and bacteria are the main decomposers. They help break down about 90% of dead matter in forests, which is crucial for keeping the soil healthy.
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Keystone Species:
- What they do: These are species that have a much bigger effect on their environment than you would expect based on how many of them there are.
- Fun fact: If a keystone species is removed, it can cause big changes in the ecosystem. For example, when sea otters decreased in kelp forests, sea urchin numbers doubled and started to destroy lots of kelp.
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Pollinators:
- What they do: They help flowering plants reproduce, which is really important for growing food.
- Fun fact: Around 75% of the world’s food crops rely on animals for pollination. This shows how crucial pollinators are for our food supply.
By understanding these roles, we can see why protecting biodiversity is so important. Healthy ecosystems depend on a variety of species to do their different jobs.