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18.2 Nutrient Cycle

The nitrogen cycle describes how nitrogen is converted between its gas form (N2) and forms that can be used by plants and animals. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil and root nodules convert N2 into nitrates in the soil. Plants take up nitrates and use the nitrogen to make proteins. Animals get nitrogen by eating plants or other animals. Waste returns nitrogen to the soil as ammonium, which is converted by bacteria into nitrates again for plant uptake, completing the cycle.

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45 views4 pages

18.2 Nutrient Cycle

The nitrogen cycle describes how nitrogen is converted between its gas form (N2) and forms that can be used by plants and animals. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil and root nodules convert N2 into nitrates in the soil. Plants take up nitrates and use the nitrogen to make proteins. Animals get nitrogen by eating plants or other animals. Waste returns nitrogen to the soil as ammonium, which is converted by bacteria into nitrates again for plant uptake, completing the cycle.

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zain ul Abideen
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18.

2 Nutrient cycle
The Carbon Cycle
 Nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen are not endless resources
 There is a finite amount of each element on the planet and as such, they need to
be recycled to allow new organisms to be made and grow
 Carbon is taken out of the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide by plants
to be used for photosynthesis
 It is passed on to animals (and microorganisms) by feeding
 It is returned to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide by plants, animals
and microorganisms because of respiration
 If animals and plants die in conditions where decomposing microorganisms are
not present the carbon in their bodies can be converted, over millions of years
and significant pressure, into fossil fuels
 When fossil fuels are burned (the process is known as combustion), the carbon
combines with oxygen and carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere
 Increased use of fossil fuels is contributing to an increase in the carbon dioxide
content of the atmosphere
 In addition, mass deforestation is reducing the number of producers
available to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis
 This problem is exacerbated by the fact that in many areas of the world,
deforestation is taking place for land rather than for the trees themselves, and as
such they are burnt down, releasing yet more carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere
The Carbon Cycle
 Carbon is taken out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis
 It is passed on to animals and decomposers by feeding
 It is returned by respiration; in plants, in animals and in decomposing
 microorganisms
 In addition, it is returned (in increasing amounts) by combustion of fossil fuels
The Nitrogen Cycle:
 Nitrogen as an element is required to make proteins
 Neither plants nor animals can absorb it from the air as N2 gas is very stable
and the bonds holding the nitrogen atoms together would need massive amounts
of energy to break (the two nitrogen atoms in a nitrogen molecule are held
together by a triple covalent bond)
 However, there are two ways it can be taken out of the air and converted into
something easier to absorb:
o Nitrogen fixing bacteria found ‘free living’ in soil and also in the root
nodules of certain plants (peas, beans, clover – we call them leguminous
plants) take N2 gas and change it into nitrates in the soil
o Lightning can ‘fix’ N2 gas, splitting the bond between the two atoms and
turning them into nitrous oxides like N2O and NO2 that dissolve in
rainwater and ‘leach’ into the soil
 Plants absorb the nitrates they find in the soil and use the nitrogen in them to
make proteins
 Animals eat the plants (or other animals) and get the nitrogen they need from the
proteins in the plant or animal
 Waste from animals sends nitrogen back into the soil as ammonium compounds
(the urea in urine contains nitrogen)
 When the animals and plants die, they decay and all the proteins inside them are
broken down into ammonium compounds and put back into the soil by
decomposers
 The plants can’t absorb ammonium compounds though, so a second type of soil
bacteria, nitrifying bacteria, convert the ammonium compounds to nitrites and
then to nitrates, which can then be absorbed by plants – and so the cycle goes
on
 Finally, there is a third, unhelpful type of (anaerobic) bacteria called denitrifying
bacteria found in poorly aerated soil (ie not much oxygen)
 These bacteria take the nitrates out of the soil and convert them back into N2
gas
 Farmers can help reduce the amount of these unhelpful bacteria by ploughing
and turning over soil
The Nitrogen Cycle

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