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Bio102 Ecological Cycles PDF

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50 views10 pages

Bio102 Ecological Cycles PDF

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victoriaiyanuoluwa40
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j\ ee THE NITROGEN cveie Nisa familiar ntineral cycle, being an example of gaseous & the Teservoir of the element is, mainly, in the Atmosphere (Figure 8), There is 79/per cent’of nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere and most of the organisms camt.not use it in gaseous form, It is only certain species of bacteria and some blue green algae which are able to utilize gascous nitrogen from the soil atmosphere. Gaseous nitrogen is converted into nitrate bya process called nitrogen fixation. [t can occur in the. following ways: fee, Aislin ot haa at bs a | Thad Sibi a. . Biological fixation either freely in the soil or in the root nodules of leguminous plants, Thé free living bacteria are Azotobsicter, Clostridium, net/Ay rabaent, * Salothris snd Nostoe, There is evidence that oF PCE dw ie Pree algae’ and bacteria growing on" leaves’ and epiphytes ‘in- humid . tropical. forest fix -appreciable quantities of atmospheric nitrogen, some of which may be used by the , trees themselves, Bowl Lequrninces jLegumes are the most’conspicuous of the nitrogen fixing | plants. They have as biotic relationship with a,bacteriurn Lehi bium radicicolayThe latter enters the rool hair walls of Sikrageer “the former, multiply and cause: swelling. (nodules) in _the Hare | u ‘ . s_suct ee / sig. apart form the legume h nodules save x cells. ke Alnus, ‘afected ain plants like Alnus, Alnus, Myrica,. Cc asuany 9, ical forests ‘forests, up to ‘60 Araucaria be le; the eeS ; may. r nitrogen compounds are released j in the soil, ing the soil fertility, Inclusion of legumes 4 a in crop rotation is based on this Property of ‘contibution’ t aang thus maintain improvement of soils. Biological fixation amounts to 100 to xation amounts to 100 200 kg nitrogen. per hectare. b. ATMOSPHERIC FIXATION ee it is accomplished by high energy provided by cosmic radiation, metcorite trials and lightning whereby nitrogen Alaait combines with the oxygen and hydrogen of water, resulting in the formation of ammonia and nitrates which are carried to the carth in‘ranm water. It was suggested that less than 8.9kg nitrogen per hectare is the annual contribution. ' Nitrogen is thus incorporated into the food chains through nitrogen fixation and subsequent uptake’ of ammonia and nitrate by plants.:Incorporation is passive, by atmospheric | fixation; and ‘active, by biological fixation. Plants obtain nitrogen compounds from soil through their root system while ‘animals acquire from plant tissue. This nitrogen is utilized: to build 4 protein. Nitrogen compounds are returned | to Soil after death of plants and: animals and also from the urea and faeces given off by animals, Bacteria furiction at almost every step in the cycle. They along with fungi, 3 ercent Tegumes. After the death of the plant,

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