Biogeochemical Cycles

Matter is recycled within and between ecosystems.

Biogeochemical cycles

•Types:
•Hydrologic- ex. water cycle
•Atmospheric- ex. carbon cycle and
nitrogen cycle
•Sedimentary – ex. phosphorus cycle
 Hydrologic (Water) Cycle

Driven by physical forces

Hydrologic Cycle

 Hydrologic CYCLE has no beginning and no

end
 Water evaporates from surface of the ocean,
land, plants..
 Amount of evaporated water varies, greatest
near the equator.
 Evaporated water is pure (salts are left
behind).
 When atmospheric conditions are suitable,
water vapor condenses and forms droplets.
 Precipitation falling on land surface enters
into a number of different pathways of the
hydrologic cycle
-some temporarily stored on land
surface as ice and snow or water
puddles (depression storage)
-some will drain across land to a stream
channel (overland flow or surface
runoff).
-If surface soil is porous, some water
will seep into the ground by a process
called infiltration (ultimate source of
recharge to groundwater).
Hydrologic Cycle
 Below land surface soil pores contain both
air and water: region is called vadose zone
or zone of aeration

 Water stored in vadose zone is called soil

moisture

 Soil moisture is drawn into rootlets of

growing plants
 Water is transpired from plants as vapor to
the atmosphere

 Under certain conditions, water can flow

laterally in the vadose zone (interflow)

 Water vapor in vadose zone can also

migrate to land surface, then evaporates
 Excess soil moisture is pulled downward by
gravity (gravity drainage)

 At some depth, pores of rock are saturated

with water marking the top of the
saturated zone.
Distribution of Water
in the Subsurface

• Vadose zone =
unsaturated zone
• Phreatic zone =
saturated zone
• Intermediate zone
separates phreatic
zone from soil
water

• Water table marks

bottom of capillary
water and
beginning of
saturated zone
Human Inputs to the Cycle

Although this is a closed system there is a natural

balance maintained between the exchange of water
within the system
Human activities have the potential to lead to
changes in this balance which will have knock on
impacts.
For example as the earth warms due to global
warming the rate of exchange in the cycle (between
land and sea and atmosphere) is expected to
increase.
Human Inputs
Some aspects of the hydrologic cycle can be utilized
by humans for a direct economic benefit
Example: generation of electricity (hydroelectric
power stations and reservoirs)
These are effectively huge artificial lakes and this will
disrupt river hydrology (amount of water in a river)
Other Human Activities

• Paving, compacting soils, and altering the nature of

the vegetation (including deforestation)
• The mining of ground water for use in agriculture
and industry
• Large amounts of water vapour released into the
atmosphere from industrial activity
• Large changes in vegetation by wildfire, logging,
clearance for agriculture
Impacts

• These human activities can lead to increase chances of flooding

• Increases in soil erosion
• A cooling effect on the north west of Europe (climate change)
• Possible higher precipitation levels in the Arctic but less in the Tropics
The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon is a key ingredient of living tissue.
• In the atmosphere, carbon is present as carbon dioxide gas,
CO2.
• Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by
• volcanic activity
• respiration
• human activities
• the decomposition of organic matter
• Plants take in carbon dioxide and use the carbon to
build carbohydrates during photosynthesis.
• The carbohydrates are passed along food webs to
animals and other consumers.
The ocean is a carbon sink

• The ocean absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere

• Physical and biological processes move some of the carbon to
the deep ocean where it is stored
• The capture and

Photo: NOAA
storage of carbon
is known as
carbon sequestration

Our ocean
captures and
stores carbon 20
 Carbon dioxide in the ocean
Photo: NOAA

•When dissolved in water, carbon dioxide

forms carbonic acid that primarily dissociates
into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions

•Some of the excess hydrogen ions combine

with carbonate, decreasing carbonate
availability to marine organisms.

•Carbonate is used by marine organisms

like this pteropod (marine snail) to create
the compound calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is the material that composes the shells and

exoskeletons of many marine organisms
21
Humans affect the amount of CO2 in the ocean

Transportation, industry and things we do at home, like use

electricity, have contributed to rising CO2 emissions to the
atmosphere, which are then absorbed by the ocean

23
Ocean pH levels are decreasing

• Data from scientists show that average ocean pH has decreased

between the 1700s (pre-industry) and the 2000s

• Observations at monitoring stations across the ocean have shown

this decreasing trend

24
• What impacts might increased ocean acidity have on marine life?

25
How is marine life affected?

CaCO3 is broken down in acidic solution

Shells of marine life can begin to dissolve in high

CO2 concentrations.

26
How is marine life affected?

Sensitive
ecosystems like
coral reefs may
decline due to
change in pH and
slower
construction of
coral
exoskeletons.

Photo: NOAA
27
How is marine life affected?

Reduced abundance of small shelled organisms may cause

problems for those larger species that prey upon them for
food

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The Nitrogen Cycle
Biological Sources of Soil Nitrogen

• Only a few species of

bacteria and cyanobacteria
are capable of nitrogen
fixation.
• Some are fee-living and
others form mutualistic
associations with plants.
• A few are lichens.
Atmospheric Sources of Soil Nitrogen

• Lightning was the major source of

soil nitrogen until recent times
when the burning of fossil fuels
became a major source of
atmospheric deposition.
• Nitrogen oxides come from a
variety of combustion sources that
use fossil fuels.
Agricultural Supplements to Soil Nitrogen

• Various forms of commercial

fertilizer are added to
agricultural fields to
supplement the nitrogen lost
through plant harvest.
• Crop rotation with legumes
such as soybeans or alfalfa is
also practiced to supplement
soil nitrogen.
 Biological Nitrogen Fixation

• Nitrogen fixation is the largest

source of soil nitrogen in natural
ecosystems.
• Free-living soil bacteria and
cyanobacteria (blue-green “algae”)
are capable of converting N2 into
ammonia (NH3) and ammonium
(NH4+).
• Symbiotic bacteria (Rhizobium) in
the nodules of legumes and certain
other plants can also fix nitrogen.
Nitrification

• Several species of
bacteria can convert
ammonium (NH4+) into
nitrites (NO2-).
• Other bacterial species
convert nitrites (NO2-)
to nitrates (NO3-).
Uptake of Nitrogen by Plants

• Plants can take in either ammonium

(NH4+) or nitrates (NO3-) and make
amino acids or nucleic acids.
• These molecules are the building blocks
of proteins and DNA, RNA, ATP, NADP,
respectively.
• These building blocks of life are passed
on to other trophic levels through
consumption and decomposition.
Ammonification

• Decomposers convert
organic nitrogen (CHON)
into ammonia (NH3) and
ammonium (NH4+).
• A large number of species
of bacteria and fungi are
capable of converting
organic molecules into
ammonia.
Denitrification

• A broad range of bacterial

species can convert nitrites,
nitrates and nitrous oxides
into molecular nitrogen
(N2).
• They do this under
anaerobic conditions as a
means of obtaining oxygen
(O2).
• Thus, the recycling of N is
complete.
 Disruptions by Human Activities
• Deforestation and grassland conversion for agriculture
cause big nitrogen losses.
• Burning fossil fuels in power plants and vehicles
releases nitrogen oxides.
• Nitrogen in fertilizers runs off into rivers, lakes and
estuaries promoting algal blooms
The Phosphorous Cycle
• Phosphorus is necessary for nucleic acids, fats, cell
membranes, bones, teeth and shells
• Most phosphorus is stored in rocks and ocean
sediments.
 PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE IN ECOSYSTEMS
• Phosphate (PO4-3) is an
essential element of life
• Starts with weathering of
rocks
• Phosphorus is slowly released
into water and soil
• Plants take up dissolved
phosphates from soil water
• Herbivores get them by eating
plants
• Carnivores get them by eating
herbivores
PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE IN ECOSYSTEMS
• Animals lose phosphate in
urine and in feces
• Bacterial and fungal
decomposers release
phosphate from organic
wastes and remains
• Lost in the cycle----
deposited in the ocean
• Phosphorus most frequently
acts as the limiting factor for
plant growth
Human Impacts
on the Phosphorus Cycle
• Like nitrogen, increased use of fertilizers increases phosphorus runoff
into our waterways and contributes to eutrophication.
Sulfur Cycle

• Sulfur is an essential component of proteins (primarily

two amino acids: cysteine and methionine), therefore
essential for life.
• An “average” cell may have approximately 1% S by dry
weight.
.
• Forms available to life: Plants absorb sulfate ions
and incorporate sulfur as an essential component of
many proteins.
• Reservoirs: Much of the earth’s sulfur is stored
underground in rocks and minerals and in the form
of sulfate salts buried deep under ocean sediments.
The sulfur cycle contains both atmospheric and
terrestrial processes.

 Within the terrestrial portion, the cycle begins

with the weathering of rocks, releasing the stored
sulfur.
 The sulfur then comes into contact with air where
it is converted into sulfate (SO 4).
 The sulfate is taken up by plants and
microorganisms and is converted into organic
forms; animals then consume these organic forms
through foods they eat, thereby moving the sulfur
through the food chain.
• As organisms die and decompose, some of the
sulfur is again released as a sulfate and some
enters the tissues of microorganisms.

• There are also a variety of natural sources that

emit sulfur directly into the atmosphere, including
volcanic eruptions, the breakdown of organic
matter in swamps and tidal flats, and the
evaporation of water.
 Human Impacts on the Sulfur Cycle
 Human impact on the sulfur cycle is primarily in the
production of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from industry (e.g.
burning coal) and the internal combustion engine.
 Sulfur dioxide can precipitate onto surfaces where the
following can happen:
- it can be oxidized to sulfate in the soil (it is also toxic
to some plants)
-oxidized to sulfate in the atmosphere as sulfuric acid, a
principal component of acid rain.
-Lower the pH in lakes and rivers
At pHs lower than 5 most fish eggs will not hatch
and lower pHs can kill adult fish.