Download Biogeochemical -NutrientCycle Color

Cycles of Matter
• Energy is crucial to an ecosystem, all
organisms need more than energy to survive
– Water
– Minerals
– Life-sustaining compounds
• For most organisms, more than 95% of the
body is made up of Carbon, Hydrogen,
Oxygen, & Nitrogen
– These common elements cannot be used by
organisms unless the elements are in a chemical form
that cells can take up
Recycling in the Biosphere
• Unlike the one-way flow of energy through an
ecosystem, matter is recycled within and
between ecosystems
– Elements, chemical compounds, and matter are
passed from one organism to another and from one
part of the biosphere to another through
biogeochemical cycles (or Nutrient Cycles)
• Nutrient cycles pass the same molecules around
again and again within the biosphere
Recycling in the Biosphere (cont’d)
• Energy and matter move through the
biosphere very differently.
– Matter cycles through the biosphere because
the body does not use up matter  it changes
its form. (Energy is used & only flows ONE DIRECTION!!!)
– Matter is included in an organism’s living body
tissue OR it is leaves the body as waste.
So why are these cycles so
important?
• Nutrients are the body’s building blocks!!!
– Organisms needs nutrients to grow and carry out life functions
• Because nutrients are in short supply in many
ecosystems, recycling of nutrients is essential for these
ecosystems to keep functioning
• Nutrient cycling also keeps many chemicals from
reaching concentrations that would be toxic to
organisms.
Classwork/ Homework!!!
Color Code each labeled item in
your Nutrient Cycle Pictures!!!
Make sure you include your colors
in the legend provided!!!
Now we are going to go
through EACH
Nutrient cycle…
You must highlight everything
that is in Color!!!
•The biological environment lives
along side of the physical
environment.
•Terrestrial organisms generally
lose tremendous amounts of
water, as it evaporates from their
bodies.
•All organisms lose some water
as they remove waste from their
bodies.
A: Precipitation Over Land
•As water condenses on
condensation nuclei, it forms
into rain or snow, thus the
water begins to fall to the
ground as precipitation.
B: Precipitation Over Ocean
•Most of the water that falls as
precipitation falls over the
oceans.
C: Transpiration
•Plants also add water to the
atmosphere through the process
of transpiration.
•Water is lost through the leaves
as a by-product of
photosynthesis.
D: Seepage From Ground
•As the water strikes the
ground, some of it goes into
the soil, gathering within water
tables under the earth (adding
to groundwater resources).
This is called Seepage.
•Water “percolates” through
the soil until it reaches the
water table.
•Water is purified by
percolating through the soil as
the soil acts as a natural filter.
E: Runoff from Surface
•The majority of the water that
strikes the land runs across the
ground, slowly collecting in
streams which eventually form
rivers. This is called Runoff.
F: Evaporation from Ocean
•The sun radiates the Earth's
surface with heat, evaporating the
water, slowly turning liquid water to
water vapor (gaseous water).
Most of the atmospheric water
vapor comes from the oceans.
•Water also evaporates from lakes,
ponds, rivers, streams, puddles,
drainage ditches, etc.
•The biological environment depends
upon plants to pull carbon into sugars,
proteins, and fats.
•Most of the carbon returns to the
physical environment through the
respiration of CO2
A: Atmosphere
•Earth's atmosphere contains 0.035%
carbon dioxide, CO2
B: Photosynthesis
•Using photosynthesis, plants use
sunlight to bind carbon to glucose,
releasing oxygen (O2)in the process.
C: Forest
•Trees take in carbon in the form of
carbon dioxide and fix it to organic
molecules that can be used by the plant
for metabolic purposes.
D: Respiration in Plants
•Through metabolic processes, plants
may convert glucose to other sugars,
proteins, or fats.
•During cellular respiration, glucose is
used to produce ATP.
•BOTH PLANTS AND ANIMALS
RESPIRE (breathe), so they release CO2
during cellular respiration!
•Plants consume more CO2 through
photosynthesis than they can produce as
a by-product.
•Plants also use O2 for cellular
respiration, but they use less than they
produce as a by-product.
E: Plant Consumption
•Animals obtain their carbon by eating
and digesting plants, so carbon moves
through the biotic environment through
the trophic system.
F: Animal Consumption
•Herbivore eat plants, but are
themselves eaten by omnivores or
carnivores.
G: Respiration in Animals
•Animals take in oxygen and give off
carbon dioxide as a waste product of
cellular respiration.
H: Decay
•When organisms die, decomposers
consume their bodies.
•In the process, some of the carbon
returns to the physical environment by
way of fossilization.
•Some of it remains in the biological
environment as other organisms eat the
decomposers.
I: Detritus Feeders
•The fancy word for decomposers and
scavengers … those organisms that
feed upon decaying plant and animal
remains and waste products.
J: Respiration in Detritus Feeders
•Like the other plants and animals
mentioned, they too release CO2 into the
atmosphere.
K: Conversion to Fossil Fuel
•Decayed plant matter that contained
large quantities of organic carbon
molecules were exposed to high
pressure and heat over time which
created fossil fuels like oil, coal, and
natural gas.
L: Fossil Fuel Processing
•Fossil fuels are extracted from the
earth and refined into usable sources
of energy
•Fossil fuels are non-renewable
meaning that they will eventually run
out
M: Uses of Fossil Fuels
•Fossil fuels are used in coal-fired
power plants to produce electricity
•Oil is refined into a wide variety of
products including gasoline
•Natural gas is commonly used in the
home for heating, cooking, and clothes
dryers.
N: Products of Combustion
•When fossil fuels are burned, they
release the stored carbon back into the
atmosphere
•Increases of CO2 in the atmosphere
contributes to the greenhouse effect
because carbon molecules efficiently trap
heat
•Sulfur is also released which mixes with
oxygen and water in the air to form
sulfuric acid, a major contributor to acid
rain.
O: Forest Fires
•Forests contain large quantities of carbon
locked up in the plant matter. When forest
catch on fire, large quantities of carbon
can be released into the atmosphere.
P: Exchange with Oceans
•CO2 in the atmosphere can dissolve into
ocean water. There it mixes with calcium
to help form calcium carbonate which is
used by organisms to form shells, bones,
and coral structures.
•Likewise, when ocean water warms up,
less CO2 can be held in the water so it is
released into the atmosphere.
•Marine sediments eventually break down
dissolving the carbon back into the water.
•All organisms require nitrogen to make
amino acids which are used to make
proteins.
•Many different forms of nitrogen in the
biosphere
•Organic nitrogen is continually recycled
by plants and animals.
•Nitrogen-containing compounds act as
nutrients in streams and rivers as well as
in the soil.
A: Atmosphere
•Nitrogen gas makes up 78-79% of
Earth's atmosphere, but most
organisms can not use nitrogen gas
(N2).
•Nitrogen gas is not usable by plants
or animals directly.
B: Nitrogen Fixation (atmospheric)
•During electrical storms, nitrogen gas
can be converted into NO3- (nitrate)
during a process called atmospheric
nitrogen fixation
C: Legume Plants and Nitrogen Fixation
•Certain types of bacteria that live freely
in the soil or within root nodules of
legumes can convert the nitrogen gas
into ammonia during the process called
bacterial nitrogen fixation.
D: Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria
•Found in soil AND on legume roots,
they change the N2 (gas) to ammonia.
E: Ammonification
•The conversion of nitrogen gas to
ammonia (hence ammonification) is key to
the fixation process.
•Some plants can use ammonia directly
but most need nitrogen changed to
nitrates through the next process.
F: Nitrification
•Other types of bacteria that live in the
soil change ammonia to nitrates.
G: Nitrosomonas
•These bacteria start the nitrification
process by converting ammonia to
nitrites.
H: Nitrobacter
•These bacteria finish the job by
converting the nitrites to nitrates.
I: Consumption by Plants
•Nitrates are taken up by autotrophs.
J: Consumption by Animals
•Animals consume the autotrophs and
therefore obtain their nitrogen needs.
K: Denitrification
•Some soil bacteria take nitrates and
convert it into N2, returning nitrogen gas
back into the atmosphere.
•The breaking apart of the nitrates is
where this term comes from.
•All organisms require phosphorus
because it forms part of life-sustaining
molecules like DNA/RNA
•Not very common in the biosphere
A: Erosion by Rock
•Sedimentary rocks act like a “sink”,
conserving much of the phosphorus for
future eons.
•When rock erodes away, the
phosphorus is released into water where
it is carried away and deposited as
phosphate (combined with oxygen).
B: Absorption by Plants
•Plants absorb phosphorus from water
and soil into their tissues, tying them to
organic molecules.
C: Concentration in Plant Tissue
•Dissolved phosphates are readily
absorbed by plants and accumulate in
their tissues.
•These phosphates are then used in the
production of vital organic molecules
(like DNA and RNA).
D/E: Plant Consumption/Grazing
•Once taken up by plants, phosphorus
is available for animals when they
consume the plants.
F: Plant Waste
•When plants die, bacteria decompose
their bodies, releasing some of the
phosphorus back into the soil.
G: Animal Waste
•Animal wastes along with the remains of
dead animals is also released back into
the soil.
H: Runoff to Oceans
•Since phosphate can be dissolved in
water and carried away, it will eventually
reach the oceans.
•There the phosphates are incorporated
into the tissues of fish and other marine
organisms.
I: Marine Sediment
•Scales, bones, etc.
•Can be returned to the land when a
marine organism is consumed and that
consumers waste (or dead body) is
deposited on the land again.
J: Geologic Upthrust
•Over time, ocean sediments that are
made up of dead organisms that contain
the phosphates become exposed
through plate movement and upthrusts.
•Erosion of these sedimentary rocks
begins the process again.