One can see that the fight against the negative consequences of saprophytism leads to new problems. However, after having pointed out the negative and destructive aspects of fungal saprophytism, it is important to take into account that its role as a decomposer is crucial to prevent the buildup of waste material and replenish nutrients so that they can re enter into the cycles of life. If organic matter was not broken down, it would pile up to such an extent that life would eventually cease to exist. The most important role of saprophytes is the decomposition of organic matter. However, in every day life, saprophytes are important in other ways.
Saprophytes are very significant in that they can have positive and negative impacts.
The fore mentioned impacts are only a few of the great range of effects that saprophytes can have. One tends to see saprophytes as more negative than positive, especially since they often spoil food, or create damage or inconvenience. Yet one should keep in mind the significance they have in the decomposition of organic matter, where they return nutrients of dead organic matter to the system, so that they are available for new growth. All organisms require a fairly steadily supply of materials and energy from the environment to stay alive. Nutrition which involves dependence upon preformed organic molecules is called heterotrophic nutrution.