All matter [i.e.

, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, or molecules (water)] cycles; it is neither

created nor destroyed. Because the Earth is essentially a closed system with respect
to matter, it can be said that all matter on Earth cycles. Ecologists study the flow
of nutrients in ecosystems.
Ecosystem elements, such as streams—and their larger cousins, rivers—are
complex ecosystems that take part in the physical and chemical cycles (biogeochemical
cycles) that shape our planet and allow life to exist. A biogeochemical cycle

is composed of bioelements (chemical elements that cycle through living organisms)

and occurs when there is an interaction between the biological and physical
exchanges of bioelements. In a biogeochemical cycle, nutrient cycling and recycling
through ecosystems results from the actions of geology, meteorology, and living
things. Various nutrient biogeochemical cycles include (Spellman 1996):
• water cycle
• carbon cycle
• oxygen cycle
• nitrogen cycle
• phosphorus cycle
• sulfur cycle
_ Important Note: Contrary to an incorrect assumption, energy does not cycle
through an ecosystem, chemicals do. The inorganic nutrients cycle through
more than the organisms; however, they also enter into the oceans, atmosphere,
and even rocks. Since these chemicals cycle through both the biological
and the geological world, we call the overall cycles ‘‘biogeochemical cycles.’’
Each chemical has its own unique cycle, but all of the cycles do have some
things in common. Reservoirs are those parts of the cycle where the chemical is
held in large quantities for long periods of times (e.g., in the oceans for water and
in rocks for phosphorous). In exchange pools, on the other hand, the chemical is
held for only a short time (e.g., the atmosphere, a cloud). The length of time a
chemical is held in an exchange pool or a reservoir is termed its residence time.
The biotic community includes all living organisms. This community may serve
as an exchange pool (although for some chemicals such as carbon, bound in certain
tree species for a thousand years, it may seem more like a reservoir) and also serve
to move chemicals (bioelements) from one stage of the cycle to another. For instance,
the trees of the tropical rain forest bring water up from the forest floor to
be transpired into the atmosphere. Likewise, coral organisms take carbon from the
water and turn it into limestone rock. The energy for most of the transportation
of chemicals from one place to another is provided either by the sun or by the
heat released from the mantle and core of the Earth (Spellman 1996).
_ Important Point: Water is exchanged between the hydrosphere, lithosphere,
atmosphere, and biosphere. The oceans are large reservoirs that store water;
they ensure thermal and climatic stability.
In addition to these exchanges of nutrients (losses and gains), Abedon (1997)
points out examples of other losses and gains:
• Minerals can be lost from ecosystems by the action of rain.
• Nutrients can also be carried into ecosystems by the action of wind or migrating
animals.
• Movement of salmon up rivers is an example of how nutrients might be delivered
into an upstream ecosystem (e.g., from the oceans back to terrestrial forests).
• A consequence of ecosystem disruption is an impaired ability to recycle nutrients,
which leads to nutrient loss and long-term ecosystem impoverishment.
• In general, a disturbed habitat probably loses (rather than recycles) nutrients to
a much greater degree than an undisturbed habitat where the actions of human
activities are not necessarily rapidly or readily reversible. A common consequence
of human disturbance of ecosystems and the associated irreversible loss
of nutrients is desertification.
In the case of chemical elements that cycle through living things—that is,
bioelements (Illinois State Water Survey [ISWS] 2005):
• All bioelements reside in compartments or defined spaces in nature.
• A compartment contains a certain quantity, or pool, of bioelements.
• Compartments exchange bioelements. The rate of movement of bioelements
between two compartments is called the flux rate.
• The average length of time a bioelement remains in a compartment is called the
mean residence time (MRT).
• The flux rate and pools of bioelements together define the nutrient cycle in an
ecosystem.
• Ecosystems are not isolated from one another, and bioelements come into an
ecosystem through meteorological, geological, or biological transport mechanisms:
meteorological (e.g., deposition in rain and snow, atmospheric gases)
ecological (e.g., surface and subsurface drainage)
biological (e.g., movement of organisms between ecosystems)
As a result, biogeochemical cycles can be:
• local
• global
Smith (1974) categorizes biogeochemical cycles into two types: the gaseous
and the sedimentary. Gaseous cycles include the carbon and nitrogen cycles. The
main pool (or sink) of nutrients in the gaseous cycle is the atmosphere and the
ocean. The sedimentary cycles include the sulfur and phosphorous cycles. The
main sink for sedimentary cycles is soil and rocks of the Earth’s crust.
Between 20 and 40 elements of the Earth’s 92 naturally occurring elements
are ingredients that make up living organisms. The chemical elements carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus are critical in maintaining life as we
know it on Earth. Odum (1971) points out that of the elements needed by living
organisms to survive—oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen—are needed in
larger quantities than are some of the other elements. The point is—no matter

what particular elements are needed to sustain life, these elements exhibit definite
biogeochemical cycles. These biogeochemical cycles will be discussed in detail
later. For now it is important to cover the life-sustaining elements in greater detail.
The elements needed to sustain life are products of the global environment.
The global environment consists of three main subdivisions, as shown in figure
2.1.
1. Hydrosphere—includes all the components formed of water bodies on the
Earth’s surface.
2. Lithosphere—comprises the solid components, such as rocks.
3. Atmosphere—is the gaseous mantle that envelopes the hydrosphere and lithosphere.
To survive, organisms require inorganic metabolites from all three parts of
the biosphere. For example, the hydrosphere supplies water as the exclusive source
of needed hydrogen. Essential elements such as calcium, sulfur, and phosphorus
are provided by the lithosphere. Finally, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide are
provided by the atmosphere.
Within the biogeochemical cycles, all the essential elements circulate from
the environment to organisms and back to the environment. Because of the critical
importance of elements in sustaining life, it may be easily understood why the
biogeochemical cycles are readily and realistically labeled nutrient cycles.
Through these biogeochemical or nutrient cycles, nature processes and reprocesses
the critical life-sustaining elements in definite inorganic-organic cycles.
Some cycles, such as carbon, are more perfect than others; that is, there is no loss
Figure 2.1.

of material for long periods of time. One major point to keep in mind: energy (to
be explained later) flows ‘‘through’’ an ecosystem, but nutrients are cycled and
recycled.
Humans need most of these recycled elements to survive. Because we need
almost all the elements in our complex culture, we have speeded up the movement
of many materials so that the cycles tend to become imperfect or what Odum
(1971) calls acyclic. Odum goes on to explain that our environmental impact on
phosphorus demonstrates one example of a somewhat imperfect cycle.
We mine and process phosphate rock with such careless abandon
that severe local pollution results near mines and phosphate mills.
Then, with equally acute myopia we increase the input of phosphate
fertilizers in agricultural systems without controlling in any
way the inevitable increase in run-off output that severely stresses
our waterways and reduces water quality through eutrophication.
(Odum 1971)
As related above, in agricultural ecosystems, we often supply necessary nutrients
in the form of fertilizer to increase plant growth and yield. In natural ecosystems,
however, these nutrients are recycled naturally through each trophic level.
For example, the elemental forms are taken up by plants. The consumers ingest
these elements in the form of organic plant material. Eventually, the nutrients are
degraded to the inorganic form again. The following pages present and discuss the
nutrient cycles for water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.