The role of animals in nature

Plants are the basis of life on Earth. They release various substances of organic nature, which are formed by the absorption of mineral salts and water, carbon dioxide and solar energy. Of course, the importance of plants in nature is great: it is nutrition for mammals, and a source of oxygen. And what is the role of animals in nature? Mammals are by no means a minor component of nature, which consumes substances created by plants. One of the main functions of animals in the natural environment is participation in a cycle of substances, without which no organism could survive on Earth.

The role of animals in nature

The complex of organisms in any ecosystem can be divided into three groups:

- producers are green plants that create organic substances from inorganic substances;

- consumers - animals that feed on plants or animal food, processing, and then dispersing organic matter in the soil or on its surface;

- The decomposers are fungi and bacteria, which turn all the organic substances that have emerged as a result of the vital activity of both animals and plants into gases and mineral salts.

Accordingly, salts and gases can again be used by the roots and leaves of plants. This is how the cycle of energy and substances in nature with the participation of living organisms is established.  

What is the role of animals in nature?

Functions of animals in nature:

1. Participation in the circulation of substances.

2. The role of animals in nature is also in the formation of soils. Especially important are invertebrates - mites, insects, mollusks and earthworms. It is there where there are many soil-forming invertebrates, the vegetative layer of the Earth is developing well.

3. The third, no less important role of animals is the destruction of insufficiently viable and diseased plant specimens. In this way, animals help to carry out natural selection, thereby maintaining and enhancing the viability of plants, speeding up their evolution. The same role is played by parasitic and predatory animals in relation to herbivorous mammals.

4. Population control. Parasitic and predatory animals restrain the reproduction of herbivores. Otherwise, the last few years could completely destroy certain plant species. Especially important are insectivorous birds (the importance of birds in nature is great: they restrain excessive reproduction of insects and other animals), birds of prey, toads and frogs, lizards, bats, flies, ground beetles, ants, wasps and other groups of invertebrates and vertebrates.

5. Cross-pollination of almost all species of angiosperms, propagation of seeds of shrubs and trees. Tens of thousands of bees take part in pollination, which live in savannas, deserts, steppes, and high-mountain meadows. Even in the north of Greenland, there is a population of bumblebees. In the role of bearers of seeds of trees, grasses and shrubs are higher vertebrate animals - grainy and carnivorous birds, rodents and ungulates.

Almost all people represent the world of animals in the form of large birds and mammals, reptiles and snakes. With savannas, elephants and lions, zebras and antelopes, ostriches and vultures, with tropical forests - orangutans and gorillas, tigers and boas, beautiful birds of paradise, taiga - wood grouses, wolves and bears, deer and hares are associated with savannas. But not in all natural processes mammals play a major role. In the eating of vegetation, in the processes of soil formation, in pollination of plants, it is assigned to invertebrate animals: centipedes, arachnids, worms, insects, etc. This is explained by their huge number and exceptional variety. The role of animals in nature is certainly high. And the task of mankind is to preserve all kinds of animals and natural balance.