What would happen if all the bacteria in a forest died?

Question

thanks!

Answer 1

This would disrupt the food chain.

All life will eventually be affected regardless if the bacteria were beneficial or helpful.

Overpopulation if the bacteria were harmful (the prey would be free from the predator)

Underpopulation if the bacteria were helpful.

There are also bacteria essential to the environment, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Overall, the food chain would be interrupted, leading to disastrous results.

Answer 2

Recycling of nutrients would be disrupted.  As leaves accumulated on the forest floor, diffusion of water and gases would be impaired causing death of the roots of the plants.  Nitrogen fixation by bacteria would be disrupted causing rapid depletion of nitrogen from the soil.  Without nitrogen, protein synthesis and nucleic acid synthesis would be disrupted.

The forest and probably most of the macroscopic animals would die.  Only scavengers would survive while there are bodies to be consumed.

Answer 3

The forest would die.