describe the critical processes by which nitrogen is cycled through the biotic and abiotic components of earth’s ecosystems and
1 answer:
Nitrogen is one of the major elements that are cycled in nature. The major sink for nitrogen in nature is the atmosphere.
Biogeochemical cycles in nature show the diverse ways that elements move through the various spheres on earth.
Nitrogen is trapped from the atmosphere by nitrogen- fixing bacteria that live in the root noodles of leguminous plants which convert atmospheric nitrogen to nitrates. This nitrogen is transferred to living organisms when they eat those plants and become incorporated into biomass.
Decomposition returns this nitrogen in biomass to the soil. The action of denitrifying bacteria converts nitrates in soil back to atmospheric nitrogen. Also several anthropogenic sources release nitrogen into the atmosphere as NOx.
The atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen hence it serves as the largest sink for nitrogen in nature.
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