NUTRIENT CYCLES

Nutrients are chemicals that organisms need to survive.

Example – All organisms need Nitrogen to make protein

NUTRIENTS must be RECYCLED when animals and plants die so that new animals and plants can get nutrients too.

Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sun’s Energy -->  Oxygen + Sugar

PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RESPIRATION ARE PARTNERS!

Photosynthesis: Producers CONVERT solar energy to sugar.

Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sun’s Energy -->  Oxygen + Sugar

PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RESPIRATION ARE PARTNERS!

Photosynthesis: Producers CONVERT solar energy to sugar.

Oxygen + Sugar-->  water+ carbon dioxide + chemical energy

RESPIRATION: Animals (and plants) use Sugar as a source of energy for growth, movement, repair, and reproduction

RESPIRATION: Animals (and plants) use Oxygen and Sugar to make energy! CO2 is a product of this reaction and RECYCLES the CO2 in the air.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RESPIRATION ARE PARTNERS!

Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sun’s Energy -->  Oxygen + Sugar

Oxygen + Sugar-->  water+ carbon dioxide + chemical energy

Combustion means Burning of Fossil Fuels

Decomposed organisms are “storage” for carbon in the soil

THE CARBON CYCLE:How carbon is balanced in ecosystems

Carbon conundrum

• Sources of atmospheric CO2 are increasing

• SINKS (ways to remove CO2) from the atmosphere are DECREASING

• We therefore have an excess CO2 in our atmosphere

• This creates a blanket around the earth that traps solar energy (GREENHOUSE EFFECT)

WidespreaWidespread Pollutiond Pollution

Greenhouse EffectGreenhouse Effect

The OCEAN is an important part of the carbon cycle too.

THE NITROGEN CYCLE

AMMONIA (NH3) is a WASTE product of animals

Dead animals and plants release N into soil

Bacteria convert (change) Ammonia into Nitrates

Bacteria convert (change) Atmospheric Nitrogen and

Nitrites into Nitrates

Some Nitrates leech or “leak” out of the soil into water

Phosphate in the water

Runoff into water

Weathering or ‘wearing down’ of rocks

Phosphate in the water

Runoff into water

Weathering or ‘wearing down’ of rocks

SEDIMENTATION (animals, plants and rocks settle to the ground) making new rocks

THE NITROGEN CYCLE