What happens to any matter that is not used by consumers in a food chain? a) it remains unconsumed forever. b) it is stored by all consumers for use in the future. c) it is recycled by producers and brought back into the food chain later. d) it is decomposed by decomposers and brought back into the food chain later.

It is D.) because it would sit there forever to who knows. There is always something that is used from something according to the food chain. Take a dead bird for example. Consumers would not want to eat a bird that has no nutrients that is alive. So this is when decomposers swoop in. Maggots, fungi, worms etc. decompose the dead body and if is was fungi, the nutrient will go into the soil and the process starts again providing nutrients to plants.