PHOSPHORUS

CYCLE
WHAT IS THE
PHOSPHORUS
CYCLE?
 The phosphorus cycle, is
the circulation of
phosphorous among the
rocks, soils, water, and
plants and animals of the
earth. Human beings and all
other organisms must have
phosphorus to live. In
nature, most phosphorus
occurs in phosphate rock,
which contains phosphate
ions combined with calcium,
magnesium, chlorine, and
fluorine.
 It cannot be found in air in the
gaseous . This is because
phosphorous is usually liquid at
normal temperatures pressures.
 This cycle is the slowest of the
matter cycles.
 Phosphorus is most commonly
found in rock formations and
ocean sediments as phosphate
salts. Phosphates are also limiting
factors for plant-growth in marine
ecosystems, because they are not
very water-soluble.
 THE PROCESS OF
THE PHOSPHOROUS

CYCLE
The cycle basically starts out in
the earth’s soil. The soil contains
phosphate and when something
grows out of the soil it should have
phosphate as well.  Detritus is non-living organic
material. When the detritus goes
deep into the soil, detritivores in
 When the plants grow they are
the soil decompose and become the
consumed by herbivore and
soil’s phosphate and the cycle
omnivore animals
repeats.

 The animal’s waste or the

animal’s body when it dies
becomes detritus.
 Another example of the
phosphorus cycle is when rocks are
created.

 The phosphate in the soil moves on

and transfers its phosphate to the
rocks underwater. When the
uplifting of the rocks occurs it takes
the phosphate along with it. After
that the weathering of rocks occur
and the rocks begin to break down
into the soil and the phosphate in
the rocks ends up in the soil again
and the cycle repeats.
 Uplifting of
rocks Phosphates
in organic
Weathering compounds
of rock Phosphates
in rock Animals
Plants
Runoff

Detritus
Phosphates
Phosphates
in soil
in solution
(inorganic)
Decomposition
Precipitated Detritivores
Rock
(solid) phosphates in soil
 All these examples of phosphates are inorganic (white boxes).
However, the Phosphorus Cycle is also organic (yellow boxes).

Not all phosphates in the runoff make it to the water; others sink into
the soil. These inorganic phosphates are transformed into organic ones by
plants, which are in turn eaten by animals.

 The dead animals, retain their internal phosphorus stores and

detritivores (scavengers which feed on dead plants and animals or their
waste) change the organic phosphates back to inorganic ones.
INTERFERE WITH
THE PHOSPHORUS
CYCLE?
 Cutting and burning of
tropical rain forests
affects the phosphorus
cycle. As the forest is cut
and/or burned, nutrients
originally stored in plants
and rocks are quickly
washed away by heavy
rains, causing the land to
become unproductive.
 Agricultural runoff provides
much of the phosphate found in
waterways. Crops often cannot
absorb all of the fertilizer in the
soils, causing excess fertilizer
runoff and increasing phosphate
levels in rivers and other bodies
of water. The phosphate in the
water is eventually precipitated
as sediments at the bottom of the
body of water. In certain lakes
and ponds this may be re-
dissolved and recycled as a
problem nutrient.
Animal wastes or manure may
also be applied to the land as
fertilizer. If misapplied on frozen
ground during the winter, much of
it may lost as run-off during the
spring thaw. In certain area very
large feed lots of animals, may
result in excessive run-off of
phosphate and nitrate into streams.
CRAP
Another human cause of artificial
eutrophication is run-off from mines.
Mining in areas where rock is rich in
phosphorus minerals can create dust that
is blown by wind into nearby water
systems.

 A major problem with the use of phosphorus in fertilizers is the process of artificial
eutrophication. Eutrophication is a large increase in the primary productivity of a lake.
Eutrophication can be harmful to the natural balance of a lake and result in massive
death of fish and other animals as dissolved oxygen levels are depleted from the water.
Thank you for your attention

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