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Ecosystem Recycling Biogeochemical Cycles:

Oxygen

Carbon

Sulfur

Nitrogen

Phosphorous

Calcium

While energy flows through an ecosystem, water and minerals are recycled.

Water

Carbon NitrogenOxygen

Water, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen travels through a biogeochemical cycle, moving

from the abiotic parts of an ecosystem into the biotic parts, and back again.

Carbon Cycle

Temperate rainforests store vast amounts of carbon,

both above and below ground.

The Carbon Cycle

All living things are made up of organicmolecules that contain carbon. Just like

water, the amount of carbon on Earth has not changed since the formation of Earth,

it has just been recycled.

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The Carbon Cycle

Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, during photosynthesis, and

convert it into simple carbohydrates.

The Carbon Cycle

Consumers break down carbohydrates during cellular respiration and release

carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.

The Carbon Cycle

During decomposition of organic wastes, carbon dioxide is also released into the

atmosphere.

Carbon Sinks:

1. Marine viruses and phytoplankton

2. Forests

3. Coral reefs

The Carbon Cycle

Organic wastes that are not decomposedare buried and converted into fossil fuels.

The Carbon Cycle

The burning of fossils fuels for mechanical use, during combustion, also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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Carbon Cycle

Brazil’s rainforests re-cycle

carbon faster than any other

ecosystem.

Carbon Cycle

Today, the earth’s atmosphere is accumulating

CO2 faster that it can be sequestered.

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Carbon sink

Carbon stink

Carbon Cycle Carbon Cycle

The earth’s “core” temperature is rising

Oxygen Cycle

Brazil’s forests produce 40% of the earth’s atmospheric oxygen

The Oxygen Cycle

21% of our Atmosphere consists of oxygen gas. Most life forms depend upon oxygen during

cellular respiration to help release the energy found in their foods.

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The Oxygen Cycle

During the day, plants release oxygen into the atmosphere, during photosynthesis.

The Oxygen Cycle

At night, plants take in oxygen from the atmosphere and use it for cellular respiration.

The Oxygen Cycle

During both day and night, animals and fungi take oxygen from atmosphere and use it for

cellular respiration.

The Oxygen Cycle

The same processes happen underwater as well. Aquatic plants and phytoplankton release dissolved

oxygen into the water during photosynthesis.

The Oxygen Cycle

Animals remove the dissolved oxygen from the waterduring cellular respiration.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen is an essential element for all life and used to form proteins and nucleic acids. Like water and carbon, nitrogen is also recycled

through ecosystems.

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Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere. However, it exists as nitrogen gas, N2, and is held together by a triple covalent bond

that most organisms cannot break.

The Nitrogen Cycle

The only organisms that can break the covalent bonds in atmospheric nitrogen are symbiotic bacteria that live on the roots of

legume plants (beans and peanuts).

The Nitrogen Cycle

The Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen Fixing bacteria, on roots of legumes, fix nitrogen gas into ammonia,

nitrate, and nitrite during nitrogen fixation.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Plants then take up the nitrogen products and use it to form proteins and

nucleic acids.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Animals obtain nitrogen by eating plants or other animals that ate plants. Excess

nitrogen is released in urine or feces.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Anaerobic bacteria break down the nitrogen products in plant and animal wastes into

nitrogen gas that is released into the atmosphere during denitrification.

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George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was a botanist and teacher that prompted farmers to plant more legumes, especially

peanuts, to enrich soils that had become nutrient poor after being used to grow cotton over and over again.

(He also invented Peanut Butter)

http://intotheoutdoors.org/topics/discovery-of-nitrogen-fixation/

The End