BIOL208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 32: Phosphorus Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle, Nitrogen Fixation
12 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Unlike energy, elements such as c, n, p, k, fe are used over and over before leaving the ecosystem. Nutrient recycling: the source of essential nutrients are either in the atmosphere or weathered material of the earth"s crust. Pathway: soil (weathering, vegetation (tissue, soil (decomposers) Though energy makes a one-way passage through ecosystems, essential nutrients, such as phosphorus (p), may be recycled. In some cases, such as a person catching fish, some nutrients will be removed from an ecosystem. The phosphorus cycle does not have an atmospheric phase (minimal) Usually in short supply and is an essential nutrient: genetic, energy production, and organism structure. Largest quantities found in benthic regions: (locked up for years, much in forms not directly available to plants. Slowly released in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems via weathering of rocks. Essential in the production: amino acids, nucleic acids, hemoglobin and chlorophyll. Nitrogen is available to plants as: ammonium (nh4+); nitrate (no3-)
