Nutrient cycling is one of the most important processes that occur in an ecosystem.

The nutrient cycle

describes the use, movement, and recycling of nutrients in the environment. Valuable elements such as
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen are essential to life and must be recycled in order
for organisms to exist. Nutrient cycles are inclusive of both living and nonliving components and involve
biological, geological, and chemical processes. For this reason, these nutrient circuits are known as
biogeochemical cycles.

Biogeochemical cycles can be categorized into two main types: global cycles and local cycles. Elements
such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen are recycled through abiotic environments including the
atmosphere, water, and soil. Since the atmosphere is the main abiotic environment from which these
elements are harvested, their cycles are of a global nature. These elements may travel over large
distances before they are taken up by biological organisms. The soil is the main abiotic environment for
the recycling of elements such as phosphorus, calcium, and potassium. As such, their movement is
typically over a local region.

Carbon Cycle

Carbon is essential to all life as it is the main constituent of living organisms. It serves as the
backbone component for all organic polymers, including carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids.
Carbon compounds, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), circulate in the
atmosphere and influence global climates. Carbon is circulated between living and nonliving
components of the ecosystem primarily through the processes of photosynthesis and
respiration. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms obtain CO2 from their environment and
use it to build biological materials. Plants, animals, and decomposers (bacteria and fungi) return
CO2 to the atmosphere through respiration. The movement of carbon through biotic
components of the environment is known as the fast carbon cycle. It takes considerably less
time for carbon to move through the biotic elements of the cycle than it takes for it to move
through the abiotic elements. It can take as long as 200 million years for carbon to move
through abiotic elements such as rocks, soil, and oceans. Thus, this circulation of carbon is
known as the slow carbon cycle.

Steps of the Carbon Cycle

 CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by photosynthetic organisms (plants,

cyanobacteria, etc.) and used to generate organic molecules and build biological mass.
 Animals consume the photosynthetic organisms and acquire the carbon stored within
the producers.
 CO2 is returned to the atmosphere via respiration in all living organisms.
 Decomposers break down dead and decaying organic matter and release CO2.
 Some CO2 is returned to the atmosphere via the burning of organic matter (forest fires).
  CO2 trapped in rock or fossil fuels can be returned to the atmosphere via erosion,
volcanic eruptions, or fossil fuel combustion.

Nitrogen Cycle

Similar to carbon, nitrogen is a necessary component of biological molecules. Some of these

molecules include amino acids and nucleic acids. Although nitrogen (N2) is abundant in the
atmosphere, most living organisms can not use nitrogen in this form to synthesize organic
compounds. Atmospheric nitrogen must first be fixed, or converted to ammonia (NH3) by
certain bacteria.

Steps of the Nitrogen Cycle

 Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) is converted to ammonia (NH3) by nitrogen-fixing bacteria in

aquatic and soil environments. These organisms use nitrogen to synthesize the
biological molecules they need to survive.
 NH3 is subsequently converted to nitrite and nitrate by bacteria known as nitrifying
bacteria.
 Plants obtain nitrogen from the soil by absorbing ammonium (NH4-) and nitrate through
their roots. Nitrate and ammonium are used to produce organic compounds.
 Nitrogen in its organic form is obtained by animals when they consume plants or
animals.
 Decomposers return NH3 to the soil by decomposing solid waste and dead or decaying
matter.
 Nitrifying bacteria convert NH3 to nitrite and nitrate.
 Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrite and nitrate to N2, releasing N2 back into the
atmosphere.

Oxygen Cycle

Oxygen is an element that is essential to biological organisms. The vast majority of atmospheric
oxygen (O2) is derived from photosynthesis. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms use
CO2, water, and light energy to produce glucose and O2. Glucose is used to synthesize organic
molecules, while O2 is released into the atmosphere. Oxygen is removed from the atmosphere
through decomposition processes and respiration in living organisms.

Phosphorus Cycle

Phosphorus is a component of biological molecules such as RNA, DNA, phospholipids, and

adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a high energy molecule produced by the processes of
cellular respiration and fermentation. In the phosphorus cycle, phosphorus is circulated mainly
through soil, rocks, water, and living organisms. Phosphorus is found organically in the form of
the phosphate ion (PO43-). Phosphorus is added to soil and water by runoff resulting from the
weathering of rocks that contain phosphates. PO43- is absorbed from the soil by plants and
obtained by consumers through the consumption of plants and other animals. Phosphates are
added back to the soil through decomposition. Phosphates may also become trapped in
sediments in aquatic environments. These phosphate-containing sediments form new rocks
over time.

Consequences of nutrient imbalance and it's interaction to environmen

Nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorus (P) availability can limit growth of primary producers across
most of the world's aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. These constraints are commonly
overcome in agriculture by applying fertilizers to improve yields. However, excessive
anthropogenic N and P inputs impact natural environments and have far-reaching ecological
and evolutionary consequences, from individual species up to entire ecosystems. The extent to
which global N and P cycles have been perturbed over the past century can be seen as a global
fertilization experiment with significant redistribution of nutrients across different ecosystems.
The effects of N and P availability on stoichiometry and genomic traits of organisms, which, in
turn, can influence:

(i) plant and animal abundances;

(ii) Trophic interactions and population dynamics; and

(iii) Ecosystem dynamics and productivity of agricultural crops.

OF ORGANISMS1. PRODUCERS:

Green plants that carry on photosynthesis. Producers are termed auto-trophs because they are
self-nourished – they do not depend on other species to feed.

During photosynthesis, plants capture light energy with their chlorophyll and use it to convert
carbon dioxide and moisture (absorbed from air) into sugar (chemical energy). Oxygen is
released as a by-product.

Every major ecosystem has its particular green plants that carry on photosynthesis and release
chemical energy (carbohydrates, protein etc.) on which non-producers feed. (algae & plankton
in aquatic systems, plants in terrestrial systems)

2. CONSUMERS:
a) Consumers are heterotrophs (other-nourished) for they rely on chlorophyll-containing plants
or the products of such plants for nourishment.

b) Consumers are subdivided into groups according to their food source.

Primary consumers: Species that feed directly on producers (plant-eating species). They are also
called Herbivores. E.g. elephants, goats, cattle

Secondary Consumers: Species that feed on primary consumers. Secondary and higher order
consumers are called Carnivores. E.g. fox, cat.

Tertiary and higher level Consumers: Species that obtain their nourishment by eating other
meat-eating species. E.g. tiger

Multiple level Consumers: Species that obtain their nourishment from eating both plants and
animal species. Also called Omnivores

3. DECOMPOSERS:

They are the final link in the food chain. Comprise of organisms that feed on dead matter and
break it down to release chemical energy back into the soil for plants to re-use them. E.g. fungi,
bacteria, insects, worms and others.

Detritivores: feed on detritus matter (dead plants and animals) e.g. crab, vulture, termites,
wood beetle and crayfish. Also called scavengers.

FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SPECIES

The Food Chain.

A food chain or food web comprises a sequence of organisms through which energy and
nutrients are taken in and used up. A food chain in a wet meadow could be: Grass-->
Grasshopper--> Snake--> Hyena.

Food chains begin from producers to consumers and the major feeding levels are called Trophic
Levels.
Producers belong to the First Trophic Level. Primary consumers, whether feeding on living or
dead producers feed from the Second Trophic Level. Organisms that feed on other consumers
belong to the Third Tropic Level. Only about 10% of the calories in plant matter survive from
First to the Second trophic level.

NON-FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS

1. Mutual relationships:

Relations between organisms can be

(a) mutually beneficial to both species, For example, relationship between flowers and insects
is a mutually supportive relationship, or …

(b) Parasitic, in that such a relationship benefits only one party. Examples include ticks, fleas,
mosquitoes, mistletoe plants and fungi.

Mutually beneficial relationships are also termed Symbiotic (sym = together, bio = living) and
can be described as

a) Commensalism is a mutual interaction between two different species in which one

organism benefits but the other is neither harmed nor helped in any way, or…

b) Mutualism is a type of species interaction in which both participating species benefit.

2. Competitive Relationships:

Plant and animal species compete over food, water, territorial space and mating with the
opposite sex