[bridgettpayseur]

Bacteria and other micro-organisms are, indeed, extremely important in the environment. They have an important job of helping to cycle nutrients. As the original poster mentioned, they help decompose dead organic matter, and recycle those nutrients back into the environment for other living organisms to use.

One skill that humans excel at is taking things from our environment and using them for our own benefit. We can do this with bacteria, too. As another poster already mentioned, we can use bioremediation to help treat our water supplies. The microbes help remove pollutants and other potentially harmful materials. Bacteria and fungi are the most common organisms used for bioremediation. We also have bacteria that can break down petroleum products. These bacteria are considered useful for cleaning up oil spills. Some people worry that introducing these bacteria to oil spills could cause them to take over that environment. It is true that the bacteria will multiply rapidly when introduced to an oil spill. However, once they have completed their job, they will be out of food, and will then die off. Other microbes in the environment will then break them down so their components can be reused by other organisms. We also use bacteria to make our food. Yogurt, for example, is made usingss bacteria.

Bacteria also play a role in helping break down organic matter in living organisms. Humans, for example, have about 10 bacteria cells living in or on us for every one human cell. These bacteria help with many things. The bacteria in our guts help us break down food, and even produce some vitamins for our bodies to use.

Without bacteria in our environment, our world would be very different. Photosynthetic bacteria were responsible for creating the oxygen in our atmosphere that we now rely on for life. Bacteria and other microbes have shaped our world.