Forests are an ecosystem. In all ecosystems, living organisms always act as self-dependents for their continued existence. Either directly or indirectly, both plants and animals depend on each other. For example, rats consume grains and plants and where snakes eat a rat, which in turn, is fed by an eagle. All these main consequences happen because of the interdependence of plants and animals in the food chain.
Plants and animals have had a long and symbiotic relationship, and just as plants paved the path for animal existence on land, animals paved the way for plant survival by giving fertilizer via decomposition and feces. Animals also help pollinate plants and provide carbon dioxide, which is used by plants as a source of energy. Plants eat decomposed soil material for nutrition, and plant-eating animals eat decayed soil material for survival. For sustenance and survival, predators consume the lower species in the food chain. When live organisms die, they decompose and become part of the soil, where they can be devoured by plants once more. In this way, the cycle continues to exist. Plants and animals are reliant on each other for reproduction in addition to food. Pollen is carried between flowers by bees, for example. Pollination aids in the reproduction of several plants.
Plants being autotrophs make their own food. They often undergo cellular respiration where they usually intake oxygen (O2) and release carbon dioxide (CO2), which they will then use again for photosynthesizing. Plants are thus dependent on other organisms, but they can survive on their own.
- The energy present in a food chain can be traced back to the Sun. This happens because plants are the first members of the food chain, and they use Sun to make their food.
- Plants and animals are interdependent on each other.
- Plants depend on animals for pollination, and they absorb nutrients from decomposed animal bodies to grow.
- Animals depend on plants for food, shelter, protection, to get oxygen and so on.
- To maintain a stable ecosystem, these interdependencies are mandatory.