They probably chose this over black since black absorbs he most heat, and if something like a power outage occurs during the hot summer, ya want to stay as cool as possible...this is just my idea.
It wouldn't flourish because there are no more decomposers. With no decomposition there cannot be a food chain because it all depends on that specific part of the link. You see, the plant population would die. Due to the lack of fungus(decomposers)
That organism is called a carrier
Notice that independently, the prey population goes up, if the predator's population is low. One interpretation is that there are not enough predators to really make a dent in the prey's population. But as the prey's population increases, they become easier targets for the predators since there are so many. As predators feed on prey, the predator's population increases (more food, can sustain a bigger population) and the prey's population decreases. As less and less prey are available to hunt, the predator's population also decreases.
Note that it need not be this cyclical, the trend can go to an equilibrium point where the populations do not fluctuate all that much.
the predator eats the prey limiting them to not overly grow. And the prey do not overly grow limiting the predators population to not overly grow as well. hope that helps