A large number of trees in a forest are dying. A scientist visits the forest to investigate why. He finds a multicellular organism growing on most of the dying trees. In the lab, he observes that the organism releases chemicals that break down living trees. Then, the organism takes in energy and nutrients from the broken-down wood. The scientist concludes that this organism is harming the trees. How should he classify this organism?

nacl or sodium chloride is an ionic compound. this is because an ionic compound pertains to a compound that consists of positively and negatively charged ions. in this case, na (sodium) has a tendency to lose one electron when it reacts with with other atoms, so the resulting sodium ion contains 11 protons and 10 electrons, thus making it positively charged (na+), when chlorine reacts, it usually gains one electron to form an ion called chloride, thus making it negatively charged ( since the ions are oppositely charged, they attract.