© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Animation: Energy Flow and Food Webs

BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
 BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
Hydrologic Cycle
(evaporation, transpiration, evapotranspiration, condensation,
precipitation, infiltration, percolation, groundwater, runoff)

Carbon Cycle
(photosynthesis, respiration, fossil fuels, decay, plants, animals,
greenhouse gas, carbonate, combustion)
 BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
Nitrogen Cycle
(nitrogen gas/free nitrogen, nitrogen fixation, nitrifying bacteria,
nitrification, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, decay, denitrifying
bacteria, denitrification, plants, animals, eutrophication, acid
rain)

Phosphorus Cycle
(long/short-term phosphorus cycle, phosphate ion, plants,
animals, birds, decay, limestone, erosion, eutrophication)
1. Illustrate the biogeochemical cycle (hydrologic, carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus)
• Label the processes involved in the cycle

2. Explain your illustration

• Significance
• Major reservoirs
• Role of plants, animals and/or humans
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Photo credits: Inquirer.Net

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 PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
4
PLANTS ANIMALS
DISSOLVED
3
PHOSPHATES
MAN EXTRACTS
INSOLUBLE
ABSORBED BY PHOSPHATE
PLANT ROOTS MAJOR RESERVOIR
INSOLUBLE PHOSPHATE VERY SLOW
1INCYCLING: PHOSPHATE ROCKS, DEAD ORGANISMS
BONE DEPOSITS, ETC. AND ANIMAL
WASTES
SEDIMENTARY WEATHERING
DEPOSITS 2 PHOSPHATE
5
DISSOLVED SOLUBILIZING
PHOSPHATES BACTERIA
FISH AND
MARINE BIRDS WASHED
7 MARINE DEPOSITS AWAY 6
Credits:
LOST IN DEEP OCEAN SEDIMENTS CGBLagunzad
•The phosphorous cycle is slow compared to
other biogeochemical cycles
•In nature, phosphorous is found mostly in
the form of phosphate ions
•Phosphate compounds are found in
sedimentary rocks, and as the rocks
weather, the phosphorous they contain
slowly leaches into surface water and soils.
•Volcanic ash, aerosols, and mineral dust can
also be significant phosphate sources.
•Phosphate compounds in the soil can be
taken up by plants and, from there,
transferred to animals that eat the plants.
•When plants and animals excrete wastes or
die, phosphates may be taken up by
detritivores or returned to the soil.
•Phosphorous-containing compounds may also be
carried in surface runoff to rivers, lakes, and oceans,
where they are taken up by aquatic organisms.
•When phosphorous-containing compounds from
the bodies or wastes of marine organisms sink to
the floor of the ocean, they form new sedimentary
layers.
" We make the world we live in and shape our
own environment." -Orison Swett Marden