After a tree leaves dies off and falls to the ground what really happens to all the dead leaves in the world. Do they just sit there forever? IF no one was to clean up the dead leaves what happens? I always wonderd where they went, please help
2006-12-23 10:11:12 · 29 answers · asked by jkraze27 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
thank you all for your answers :D
2006-12-23 10:20:18 · update #1
They get broken down by worms, insects, bacteria and fungi, and turn in to humus which the plants recycle, just like a compost heap in your garden.
2006-12-23 10:12:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They decompose into dirt. I had been dumping leaves into a pile maybe 6 feet high and 10 feet across at the bottom in the same place every year for 20 years. Every year they all settled down and broke up into dirt and just disappeared.
2006-12-23 18:14:25 · answer #2 · answered by Kokopelli 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bacteria, nematodes, protazoa, fungi, yeast, etc. that are in the living top 3 inch layer of soil will come from below and start to colonize the dying drying leaves
meanwhile the shredders (earthworms and arthrodpods) will join the feast, shredding them into smaller pieces, then fungi and bacteria in the stomach of the shredders jump onto the shredded leaves and continue to break down the leaves especially through the use of enzymes
these various critters will eat the fragments of leaves, and leave humus behind
basically the critters are eating various minerals in the leaves, the minerals become part of their bodies, then they die and the critters become the soil, or rather the dead bodies of the critters become the soil
2006-12-23 20:05:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are broken down by various methods: insects, bacteria, mold. Then the broken-down particles get mixed into the soil again, or leach into it via rain-water. This gives nutrients to whatever plants have roots down there ...
Gardening the Organic Way
- How Does Your Garden Grow? (compost)
- Toads, Birds, & Bugs--Your Garden's Friends
- Plants and Pest Control
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2002/3/22/article_01.htm
.
2006-12-23 18:15:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're creating a massive underground army the likes of which the world has never seen, hell-bent on world domination. They've been gathering forces for 18 years and it's only a matter of time before the invasion...
only a matter of time.
2006-12-23 18:16:41 · answer #5 · answered by Bones 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They biodegrade into the ground to replenish the Earths' soil to supply it with nutrients for new life. What a wonderfully interesting process! Happy Holidays!
BTW, snow melts and sates the Earths' thirst!!!!
2006-12-23 18:27:06 · answer #6 · answered by mc_mommy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they decompose and distribute all their nutreints into the soil. People only rake up their leaves because they want lawns to look nice (and thousands of decaying leaves don't always smell the best either)
2006-12-23 18:13:28 · answer #7 · answered by DonSoze 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They float away into a sea of their unwantedness. Not really. Either they stay in the same place to decompose and become compost or flaot away to where no one can see them.
2006-12-23 18:14:16 · answer #8 · answered by Cool Awesome 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not widely recognised that leaves have little wrist bands, and when it is night and noone is watching, they press the little button and say, Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here!
2006-12-23 21:37:53 · answer #9 · answered by Greth 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well after time the leaves will start to decay. It will dry out then start to crack till it turns to dust/dirt.
2006-12-23 18:14:48 · answer #10 · answered by llwyn3 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋