Decomposers in the stream
When we think of fungi, we usually think of mold on our
food or mushrooms.
Fuzzy mold is made of millions of single
strands of fungi. We can only see them
when they grow in clumps—most fungi
is too small to see without a microscope.
Fungi growing in soil (naked eye)
Fungi in compost (microscope)
Yeast are fungi too!
Fungi are found all over and are very important for
decomposing plant material like leaves on land and in water.
Here are 3 kinds
of related fungi
that live in
streams and
decompose dead
organisms
Here are 3 kinds of
related fungi from a
different group that
also live in streams
and decompose
dead organisms
Here is another kind of fungi
from a different group that
also lives in streams and
decomposes dead
organisms. This type of
fungi lives in places with less
dissolved oxygen.
Bacteria are so small you need a very
powerful microscope called an electron
microscope to see them in this detail.
While many different groups of bacteria
look very similar on the outside, they are
very different on the inside.
There are more bacteria and fungi on the planet
than any other living thing. For example…
1 mL of fresh water
can contain 1
million bacteria
1 g of soil can
contain 1 billion
bacteria
How many bacteria do you think could be in
your leaf packs?
What happens when leaves fall from a plant?
Some get
eaten (by
microbes)
Some
pieces stay
in the water
Think about how you eat…how is eating
different for bacteria and fungi?
Bacteria
Food
Big difference between people and microorganisms: our food is smaller
than us!
As microbes eat…a lot of minerals are left
behind, since the microbes are “messy eaters”
What happens to the leaves when microbes eat?
Using the food for
energy
(respiration)
Eating
Waste
creation
CO2
Building
new cells
(mass)
Minerals
“released”