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Biogeochemical Cycles

Biogeochemical Cycles. Biology EOCT Review. Essentials for Life. Like energy, matter flows through the environment. UNLIKE energy, which flows in one direction, matter cycles through the environment.

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Biogeochemical Cycles

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  1. Biogeochemical Cycles Biology EOCT Review

  2. Essentials for Life • Like energy, matter flows through the environment. UNLIKE energy, which flows in one direction, matter cycles through the environment. • Matter is recycled in ecosystems through feeding relationships and life processes of organisms. • Essential elements: carbon (C ), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P). When they cycle through organisms and environments it is called a biogeochemical cycle.

  3. The Water Cycle

  4. The Water (H2O) Cycle • Evaporation: water vapor enters the atmosphere as the sun heats bodies of water on the Earth’s surface • Transpiration: water evaporations from the leaves of plants through the stomata • Condensation: water vapor in the air and changes into a liquid • Precipitation: water that falls back to the Earth in the form of rain, hail, snow, or sleet

  5. The Carbon Cycle

  6. The Carbon Cycle • Organisms release carbon dioxide into the air as a waste product of cellular respiration. • Plants use carbon dioxide from the air in photosynthesis. • Coal and oil are fossil fuels formed from the remains of plants and other organisms. The burning of these fossil fuels releases carbon that was stored in the original organisms. • Carbon stored in the tissues of dead organisms is returned to the environment by decomposition.

  7. The Nitrogen Cycle

  8. The Nitrogen Cycle • Except for bacteria, living things cannot use N2 directly. Bacteria take nitrogen from the air and combine it with hydrogen to form ammonia (NH3)- nitrogen fixation. • Other bacteria transform ammonia into nitrates and nitrites- nitrification. • Denitrification is when bacteria convert the nitrates and ammonium ions in the soil back into nitrogen gas.

  9. The Phosphorus Cycle

  10. The Phosphorus Cycle • Only biochemical cycle that does not cycle through the atmosphere. • Phosphorus cycle is very slow. • Phosphorus is found in water, soil, and rocks. • Geological processes (hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes) release phosphorus from rocks and carry it from ocean sediment to land. • Plants absorb phosphorus. • Herbivores consume plants. • Phosphorus from decaying plants or animals returns to the earth.

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