NUTRIENT CYCLES (How are nutrients recycled through ecosystems?) Why?

We have learned the importance of recycling our trash. It allows us to use something again for another
purpose and prevents the loss of natural resources. But what happens to the waste in nature? Why
aren’t we up to our necks in poop? Why is there always a supply of water? Why is there oxygen to
breathe and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis? Organic compounds in nature are also recycled. This
recycling process converts the complex organic compounds to simple, inorganic compounds, which then
can be returned to the nutrient cycle and be used in nature again and again.

The Carbon Cycle

1. Name two ways that carbon (usually in the form of CO2) enters the atmosphere.
a. Respiration from animals and plants, and combustion
2. What process uses CO2 from the atmosphere?
a. Photosynthesis
3. What organisms carry out that process?
a. Plants, algae, and a group of bacteria called cyanobacteria are the only organisms
capable of performing photosynthesis.
4. Wastes and dead organisms must be broken down in order for their components to be used
again. What organisms in the cycle carry out this process?
a. Decomposing fungi, bacteria, and worms
5. What would happen if decomposition did not occur?
a. The carbon would become trapped in the waste and dead matter rather than being
recycled back into the atmosphere, which would result in an ever-decreasing amount of
carbon dioxide available for photosynthesis. In the meantime, wastes and dead
organisms would begin to accumulate.
6. Not all dead organisms are acted on by decomposers. Instead of being immediately recycled,
the carbon from some organisms is kept in a type of long-term storage, or carbon sink. Answer
the questions below about this long-term storage.
a. List three materials that contain this stored carbon.
i. Coal, oil, peat
b. What is the collective term for these three materials?
i. Fossil fuels
c. How do modern humans use these carbon stores?
i. We burn them as energy sources
d. How does our use of these carbon stores affect the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere?
i. Because of our actions, the amount of carbon that has been stored is being
released into the atmosphere, leading to an increase in the concentration of
carbon dioxide. We are releasing the carbon stores at a rate that is faster than
the rate at which nature can replenish them. The use of fossil fuels by humans
has upset the equilibrium that had been maintained by storing some of the
carbon in carbon sinks. This has resulted in an increase in global warming.
7. What is another way in which human activity is increasing the amount of atmospheric CO2,
and what are potential global effects of these changes in CO2 levels?
a. Through practices such as deforestation and ocean pollution, we are contributing to an
increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is a direct result of the
decreased biomass of photosynthetic organisms (aquatic algae are a huge
photosynthetic community). Researchers have found a correlation between rising levels
of greenhouse gases and rising global temperatures. This can cause the ice caps to melt,
lead to flooding, and have a significant impact on weather patterns, in addition to
changing the temperature of environments and having an impact on the ability of
organisms to survive.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the so-called greenhouse gases. These gases hold heat energy in
the atmosphere which raises the overall temperature of the Earth. This helps maintain the
earth’s biosphere, but also has led to environmental concerns
NITROGEN CYCLE

8. In what ways is N2 gas removed from the atmosphere?

a. Nitrogen fixation by N-fixing bacteria in the soil and in the root nodules of legumes.
9. Name 3 types of bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle.
a. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, decomposing bacteria, nitrifying bacteria, and denitrifying
bacteria
10. By what process are animal wastes, urine and dead organisms converted to other nitrogen
containing compounds?
a. By conversion to ammonia and ammonium compounds or by deamination.
11. What is the only form of nitrogen that non-legume plants can take in and use?
a. Nitrates
12. What do the denitrifying bacteria do?
a. They restore nitrogen found in the air by converting nitrates, which are an essential
component of plant nutrition.
13. If the number of nitrifying bacteria decreased what effect would this have on the nitrogen
cycle and what type of compounds would accumulate as a result?
a. It would be impossible to continue the nitrogen cycle. Because of this, the nitrites would
not be able to be converted into the nitrates, and the ammonia compounds would build
up.
14. Plants and animals (and all other living things) are part of all the natural cycles through food
chains and food webs. Name the four classes of carbon-containing molecules used by living
things, and explain how the nitrogen and carbon cycles contribute to the usable supplies of
these macromolecules.
 a. Proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids are carbon-containing (organic)
macromolecules required for life. Nitrogen can also be found in proteins and nucleic
acids. Plants obtain carbon from the atmosphere and nitrogen from the soil (except for
legumes, which can obtain nitrogen directly from the atmosphere), both of which are
supplied by the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Carbon and nitrogen compounds are
obtained by animals from their food (plants and/or other animals). Organic compounds
are converted into tissue, fat and/or carbohydrate storage, energy for the organisms,
and hereditary information in all organisms. Decomposers return carbon and nitrogen to
the earth as organisms die and decompose.
15. Why must nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and water be constantly recycled?
a. If they were not constantly recycled, life simply could not be maintained in the
appropriate manner. Nutrients would be locked away in decomposing bodies and
wastes, making them inaccessible to living species in a form that they could use.
Because these cycles constitute what are known as "closed systems," no additional
nutrients will be introduced into them.