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Understanding Biogeochemical Cycles: Matter Recycled in Ecosystems

This educational content covers the cycles of matter, such as water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, within ecosystems. It explains the importance of nutrients, the processes involved in each cycle, the roles of bacteria in the nitrogen cycle, and the significance of phosphorus in living organisms. The text emphasizes how matter is continuously recycled through biological, geological, chemical processes, and human activities. The key topics include the water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and phosphorus cycle.

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Understanding Biogeochemical Cycles: Matter Recycled in Ecosystems

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  1. Cycles of Matter

  2. Recap: • Matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. • Living organisms consist mainly of: • Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen • Life’s most important compounds include: • Water, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins

  3. Biogeochemical Cycles • Cycles of matter include: • Biological processes • Geological processes • Chemical processes • AND human activity can play an important role • Energy flows through an ecosystem whereas matter is continuously recycled

  4. Cycles of Matter • The important cycles of matter in an ecosystem include • water cycle • carbon cycle • nitrogen cycle • phosphorus cycle

  5. The Water Cycle • Water is essential for life • Water continually moves from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back in a process known as the water cycle.

  6. Nutrient Cycles • Nutrients- chemical substances that organisms need to sustain life

  7. The Carbon Cycle • Carbon is an element that is found in all living things. • Carbon is cycled through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration • Plants take the carbon dioxide and use it to make glucose during photosynthesis • During respiration, mitochondria use oxygen to break down glucose for energy.

  8. The Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen is an element that has to be “fixed” before most organisms are able to use it. • The changing of free nitrogen gas to a useable form is called nitrogen fixation • Most nitrogen fixation is performed by bacteria that live in bumps called nodules on the roots of certain plants. • These plants are known as legumes and include clover, beans, peas, alfalfa, and peanuts. • Nitrogen returns to the environment through animal wastes which are broken down by decomposers.

  9. Roles of Bacteria in the Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in nodules on the roots of plants change nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds. • Bacteria that are decomposers recycle nitrogen compounds in the soil • Other bacteria release free nitrogen to the air. What would the role of animals be? • Consume nitrogen when eating plants, or organisms that eat plants • Return nitrogen to the soil through wastes

  10. Phosphorus Cycle • Phosphorus is essential to living things because it plays a vital role in vital molecules such as DNA and RNA. • It is NOT abundant in the atmosphere unlike carbon oxygen and nitrogen

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