Soil Biogeochemical Cycles

1. Soil Biogeochemical Cycles Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus

2. 24/118 required by organisms Macronutrients: C,H,N,O,P,S Micronutrients

3. BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES The complete pathway that a chemical element takes through the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere.

4. Soil Carbon Cycle

5. CARBON CYCLE atmosphere photosynthesis respiration biosphere

7. Plant residues Applied organic materials GAINS Soil organic carbon LOSSES Respiration Plant removal Erosion

8. Pools (compartments) of soil organic matter: (categorized by susceptibility to microbial respiration) 1. Active/Fast C:N 15:1 – 30:1 1-2 years readily accessible to microbes; most of mineralizable N 10 – 20% of total 2. Slow C:N 10:1 – 25:1 15-100 yrs food for autochthonous microbes ; some mineralizable N 3. Passive C:N 7:1 – 10:1 500-5000 yrs colloidal; good for nutrient and water-holding 60 -90% of total

11. Soil management may help curb greenhouse effect due to carbon dioxide emissions pre-Industrial Revolution: 280 ppm CO2 post: 370 ppm 0.5% increase per year Causes: 1. Fossil fuel burning 2. Net loss of soil organic matter By changing balance between gains and losses, may limit loss of OM…how?

12. How? 1. Restore passive fraction in soils that are degraded. -sequesters carbon for long time 2. Switch to no-till practices 3. Convert to perennial vegetation

13. Cornfield in warm, temperate climate Net loss of carbon

15. Soil Nitrogen Cycle

16. Atmosphere 78% nitrogen • Not in directly accessible form for organisms • Made usable by fixation • Most terrestrial N is in the soil ! • 95-99% in organic compounds • Made usable by mineralization

17. Let’s look at all components and processes in nitrogen cycle…..

18. A. Nitrogen fixation 1. Atmospheric: lightning • Oxidation of N2 2. Industrial production of N fertilizer N2 + H2→ NH3 3. Biological (soil organisms) (industrial fixes 85% as much N as organisms)

20. Biological fixation(soil organisms) Immobilization: microbes convert N2 to N-containing organic compounds Nitrogenase

21. 2 groups of N-fixing microorganisms • Nonsymbiotic, autotrophic: (use solar energy) • Some actinomycetes • Cyanobacter (formerly known as blue-green algae) • Photosynthetic bacteria

22. B.Symbiotic, in association with legume plants (plants supply energy from photosynthesis) Rhyzobium Infect root hairs and root nodules of legumes

24. Symbiosis: mutualistic: plants provide energy, bacteria provide ammonia for synthesis of tissue Energy-demanding process: N2 + 8H+ + 6e- + nitrogenase → 2NH3 + H2 NH3 + organic acids → amino acids → proteins

26. B. Mineralization (ammonification) Heterotrophic microorganisms Decomposition Organic N compounds broken down to ammonia; energy released for microorganisms to use Organic N + O2→CO2 + H2O +NH3 + energy

27. C. Nitrification Oxidizes ammonia to nitrate; 2 step oxidation process: 1. Nitrosomonas: NH3→NO2- (nitrite) + energy 2. Nitrobacter: NO2-→NO3- (nitrate) + energy

28. D. Denitrification Completes N cycle by returning N2 to atmosphere (prevents N added as fertilizer from being “locked” in roots and soil) Requires energy; Reduction of nitrate/nitrite NO2 or NO3 + energy→N2 + O2 (many steps) Denitrifying bacteria and fungi in anaerobic conditions

31. NITROGEN applied to soil as fertilizer

32. Phosphorus Cycle P is part of many essential molecules of life, including DNA

34. Phosphorus Cycle • P often limiting factor for plants because : 1. low in parent materials 2. Most P tends to get locked up in minerals, stable oxides or organic compounds: unavailable! • Microbes need P • After N, P is most abundant nutrient in microbial tissue. • Competition with plants for P

35. Differs from N cycle 1. P cycle has no gaseous component 2. Whereas N readily goes into solution as stable, plant-available nitrate, P reacts quickly with other ions and converts to unavailable forms.

36. Available P • P in solution that plants can use: H2PO4- or HPO4-2 ion (availability is greatest at neutral pH) • If there is enough P, microbes mineralize & release P to soil solution.

37. Mineralization • This slow release of P to plants during growing season reduces need for P fertilizer. • The mycorrhizal fungi and the bacteria who do this get exudates from plants roots in exchange.

38. If there is not enough P • The microbes will immobilize it (in their bodies) as organic P.

39. Adsorption and Desorption • P becomes bound to soil particles (clay, Fe-Al oxides: UNAVAILABLE • Release of adsorbed P to soil solution

40. Role of mycorrhizae in P cycle: Can infect several plants: Hyphae connect plants ; conduits for nutrients Fungi get E from plant ‘s photosynthesis.

43. Soil phosphorus cycle in a grazing system

44. Phosphate crisis

46. Some important points about these cycles…

47. Arbuscular mycorrhizae and N cycle • Involve 2/3 of plant species. • Unlike most fungi, the AM fungi get their supply of sugars for energy and growth from their plant partner and not from the decomposition of organic matter, but they obtain large amounts of nitrogen from • decomposing organic matter. • The fungus itself is much richer in N than plant roots, • calculations suggest that there is as much nitrogen in AM fungi globally as in roots. • Since fungal hyphae (the threads of which the fungus is composed) are much shorter-lived than roots, this finding has implications for the speed with which nitrogen cycles in ecosystems.

48. Biotic regulation vs. synthetic fetilizers • Biota capture and store soil nutrients and return them to plants when they need them. • When plants need nutrients, they stimulate soil biota to release the nutrients. • In biotic regulation, nutrients are held in resistant forms, not readily lost from soil. • Synthetic fertilizers cause physiological changes in plants that make them withhold energy from soil biota.