Compare grazing and detrital food webs. Why would they both be present in the same ecosystem?

An ecosystem consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the system through photosynthesis and is incorporated into plant tissue.

• Grazing food webs have a primary producer at their base, which is either a plant for terrestrial ecosystems or a phytoplankton for aquatic ecosystems.
• Detrital food webs are the decomposers that feed on dead organism.

There are many benefits from presenting of both web in the same ecosystem:

• Detrital food webs are important because they eliminate dead and decaying organic material, thus, clearing space for new organisms and removing potential causes of disease that may affect grazing food webs.
• By breaking down dead organic matter, decomposers also make mineral nutrients available to primary producers.