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Cycles of Matter

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26 views45 pages

Cycles of Matter

Uploaded by

elesantm20090
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Cycling of Matter

Recycling in the Biosphere


⚫In most organisms 95% of the body is made
up of just four elements.
⚪ Oxygen
⚪ Carbon
⚪ Hydrogen
⚪ Nitrogen
The Cycle of Matter

⚫Matter
changes
form, but it
does not
disappear.
It can be
used over
and over
again in a
continuous
cycle.
The Water Cycle
The Water Cycle

⚫All living things need


water to survive.
⚫Water moves between
the ocean,
atmosphere, and land.
The Water Cycle

⚫Water molecules enter


the atmosphere as water
vapor (a gas), when they
evaporate from the
ocean or other bodies of
water.
⚫Evaporation
⚪ The process by which
water changes from liquid
form to an atmospheric
gas.
The Water Cycle

⚫Transpiration
⚪ Water can enter
the atmosphere by
evaporating from
the leaves of
plants.
The Water Cycle

⚫Sun heats the


atmosphere.
⚪ Warm, moist air rises,
and cools.
⚪ Water vapor condenses
into droplets that form
clouds.
⚪ As droplets become
large enough, they
return to the Earth’s
surface in the form of
precipitation.
The Water Cycle

⚫ Most precipitation
runs along the
surface of the earth
until it enters a
river or stream that
carries the runoff
back to a lake or
ocean.

⚪ Rain also seeps into


the soil, some deeply
enough to become
ground water.
The Water Cycle
Nutrient Cycles
Nutrient Cycles

⚫Nutrients
⚪ All the chemical substances that an
organism needs to sustain life.
⚫Every living organism needs
nutrients to build tissues and
carry out essential life functions.
⚪ Nutrients are passed between
organisms and the environment through
biogeochemical cycles.
Elements essential for life also cycle through
ecosystems.

⚫Biogeochemical
cycles
⚪ A biogeochemical cycle
is the movement of a
particular chemical
through the biological
and geological, or
living and non-living,
parts of an ecosystem.
⯍ Many substances will
change states, from
solid, to liquid, to gas,
as they move through
their cycles.
The Oxygen Cycle

🞆 Plant, animals, and


most other
organisms need
oxygen for cellular
respiration.
The Oxygen Cycle
The Carbon Cycle

⚫ Carbon is a key ingredient of


living tissue.
⚫ Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is an
important component of animal
skeletons, and is found in several
kinds of rocks.
⚫ Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an
important part of the
atmosphere.
⚪ CO2 is taken up by plants during
photosynthesis, and given off by both
plants and animals during cellular
respiration.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫Biological processes, such as photosynthesis,


respiration, and decomposition, take up and
release carbon and oxygen.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫Geochemical processes, such as erosion and


volcanic activity, release carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere and oceans.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫Mixed biogeochemical processes, such as the


burial and decomposition of dead organisms
and their conversion under pressure into coal
and petroleum (fossil fuels), store carbon
underground.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫Human activities, such as mining, cutting and


burning forests, and burning fossil fuels,
release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫Plants take in CO2 and use carbon to build


carbohydrates during photosynthesis.
⚪ The carbohydrates are passed along food webs to
animals and other consumers.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫In the ocean, carbon is


found along with calcium
and oxygen in the form of
calcium carbonate.
⚪ Calcium carbonate is
formed by marine
organisms.
⚪ This accumulates in marine
sediments and in the bones
and shells of organisms.
The Carbon Cycle

⚫Not all carbon


molecules move freely
thorough the cycle.
⚫Areas that store
carbon over a long
period of time are
called carbon sinks.
⚫Example: Forest land,
where large amounts
of carbon are stored in
the cellulose of wood.
The Carbon Cycle
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫All organisms require nitrogen to make


amino acids, which in turn are used to make
proteins.
⚪ Many different forms of nitrogen are found in the
biosphere.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78% of Earth’s


atmosphere.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Ammonia (NH3),
nitrate (NO3-), nitrite
(NO2-), are found in
wastes produced by
many organisms and
in dead and
decaying organic
matter.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Nitrogen exists in several forms in the ocean


and other large bodies of water.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Human activity adds nitrogen to the


biosphere in the form of nitrate—a major
component of plant fertilizers.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Although nitrogen gas is


the most abundant form
of nitrogen on Earth,
only certain types of
bacteria can use this
form directly.
⚪ These bacteria live in the
soil and on the roots of
legumes, convert nitrogen
gas into ammonia.
⚪ The process is called
NITROGEN FIXATION.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Now, other bacteria


can convert the
ammonia into
nitrates and nitrites.
⚪ Producers (plants) can
use nitrates and nitrites
to make proteins.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫Consumers then eat the producers and reuse


the nitrogen to make their own proteins.
The Nitrogen Cycle

⚫When the
consumers die,
decomposers return
nitrogen to the soil
as ammonia.
⯍ This process is called
DENITRIFICATION.
The Nitrogen Cycle
The Nitrogen Cycle
The Phosphorus Cycle

⚫Phosphorous is essential
to living organisms
because it forms part of
important life-sustaining
molecules such as DNA
and RNA.
⚪ Phosphorous is not very
common in the biosphere.
The Phosphorous Cycle

⚫Phosphorous is found
mainly on land in
rocks and soil
minerals, and in
ocean sediments.
⚪ As the rocks and
sediments wear down,
phosphate is released.
The Phosphorous Cycle

⚫On land, some of the phosphate washes into


rivers and streams, where it dissolves.
⚪ The phosphate eventually makes its way to the ocean,
where it is used by marine organisms.
The Phosphate Cycle

⚫Some phosphate stays


on land and cycles
between organisms and
the soil.

⚪ When plants absorb


phosphate from the soil or
from water, the plants
bind the phosphate into
organic compounds.
The Phosphate Cycle
Nutrient Limitation

⚫Primary Productivity
⚪ The rate at which
organic matter is
created by producers.
⚪ One factor that controls
primary productivity of
an ecosystem is the
amount of available
nutrients.
⚫If a nutrient is in
short supply, it will
limit an organisms
growth.
Nutrient Limitation

⚫Limiting nutrient
⚪ When an
ecosystem is
limited by a single
nutrient that is
scarce or cycles
very slowly.
⚪ These ecosystems
are considered to
be nutrient-poor
environments.
Nutrient Limitation

⚫Oceans can be considered


to be nutrient-poor.
⚪ Sea water contains
only .00005 % nitrogen
(1/10,000 of the amount
typically found in soil).
⚪ In sea water and other
saltwater environments,
nitrogen is often the limiting
nutrient.
⚫In streams, lakes, and
freshwater environments,
phosphorous is typically
the limiting nutrient.
Nutrient Limitation

⚫Farmers are aware of nutrient limitation


and apply fertilizer to their crops.
⚪ Fertilizer contains nitrogen, phosphorous, and
potassium.
Nutrient Limitation

⚫As rain comes down on fertilized fields,


runoff will flow into the oceans and
freshwater lakes and ponds.
⚪ The results are ALGAL BLOOMS.

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