The Community of Heterotrophic Protists and Invertebrate Animals, Such as Earthworms

The community of heterotrophic protists and invertebrate animals, such as earthworms, pillbugs, mites, and pseudoscorpions, that live in the leaf litter on the shady floor of a deciduous forest obtains its energy and nutrients primarily from:

A) carbohydrates formed in the roots of the trees that leach out into the surrounding soil.
B) chemosynthesis by green and purple sulfur bacteria living on the surface of the leaves.
C) decomposition of the leaves of deciduous trees that fall on the surface of the soil.
D) photosynthesis or algae living in the soil beneath the leaves.
E) predation on one another.