Plants play a major role in the Nitrogen and Water cycles which involves how nitrogen and water is circulated between living organisms respectively in the environment. Plants need water for their life processes and they absorb groundwater via their root hairs which removes water from the environment. They help return back water (in form of vapor) when they lose water through the stomata on their leaves. This process in plants is called TRANSPIRATION. Therefore, via the processes of absorption and transpiration, plants influence the water cycle.
On the other hand, Nitrogen is an important component of structures that make up a plant e.g Chloroplast, Nucleic acids, amino acids etc. They get this nitrogen from the soil where it is absorbed via their roots in form of nitrates (a nitrogen compound usable by plant). When the plant dies, they are decomposed by microbes called decomposers e.g fungi, thereby, releasing the nitrogen back into the soil in form of ammonium, which is used up again in the nitrogen cycle. Therefore, plants influence the Nitrogen cycle when by absorbing it via their roots and releasing it back via decomposition.
