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Abstract

Decomposers have the role of mineralizing all the organic waste in an ecosystem, and in this way putting nutrient elements back into circulation. Plant litter constitutes the major part of the waste, and this is decomposed via the “short cycle” . When decomposition of litter lags behind its formation, gradual accumulation of organic material takes place; this happens, however, only in cool climates or in amphibiomes.

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Walter, H., Breckle, SW. (1986). Decomposers. In: Ecological Systems of the Geobiosphere. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06812-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06812-0_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-06814-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-06812-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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