Re: If there were no decomposers what would happen to dying things in a forest?

Decomposers are perhaps the most abundant and ubiquitous organisms in any 
ecosystem.  They are for the most part small and sedentary so their actions 
 go unnoticed.  They often produce foul odors, so when we do notice their 
actions we tend to be unappreciative.

If someone were to wave a magic wand and do away with all decomposers, 
there would be no more nutrient cycling.  Carbon would not go back into the 
air to feed photosynthetic plants and N, P, Ca, Mg and other essential 
plant nutrients would not go back into the soil to allow for plant growth. 
 So the first generation of things would die, but then little else would 
be able to grow in its place because so many of the nutrients would be 
locked up in the dead things.  Growth would quickly come to halt.

The answer was right in part beacuse things would stack up.  But the answer 
was wrong in part because the stack could not continue to grow.

I hope this helps clarify the situation.  And tell your son to keep on 
thinking! It is more important to be able to think than to get the right 
answers on a test! (though it helps if you can do both!!)