LESSON PROPER –WEEK 4

Biogeochemical cycle, any of the natural pathways by which essential elements of living matter are
circulated. The term biogeochemical is a contraction that refers to the consideration of the biological,
geological, and chemical aspects of each cycle.
Elements within biogeochemical cycles flow in various forms from the nonliving (abiotic) components of the
biosphere to the living (biotic) components and back. In order for the living components of a major ecosystem
(e.g., a lake or a forest) to survive, all the chemical elements that make up living cells must be recycled
continuously. Each biogeochemical cycle can be considered as having a reservoir (nutrient) pool—a larger,
slow-moving, usually abiotic portion—and an exchange (cycling) pool—a smaller but more-active portion
concerned with the rapid exchange between the biotic and abiotic aspects of an ecosystem.

All matter is made up of atoms. These atoms are cycled between the living and non-living portions of an
ecosystem. The activities involved in the cycling of atoms include biological, geological, and chemical
processes. Therefore, these nutrient cycles are often called biogeochemical cycles.
Some atoms are more common in living things than are others. Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and
phosphorus are found in important organic molecules such as proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, and fats, which
are found in all kinds of living things. Organic molecules contain large numbers of carbon atoms attached to
one another. These organic molecules are initially manufactured from inorganic molecules by the activities
of producers and are transferred from one living organism to another in food chains. The processes of
respiration and decay ultimately break down the complex organic molecules of organisms and convert them
to simpler, inorganic constituents that are returned to the abiotic environment. In this section, we will look at
the flow of six kinds of atoms within communities and between the biotic and abiotic portions of an ecosystem:
water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and Sulphur.

Fig.3 Rotting leaves

Source: https://cdn.britannica.com/72/158172-050-
E90D7E4E/Rotting-leaves-forest-floor.jpg

Water Cycle
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the HO cycle, describes the continuous movement
of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass water on Earth remains fairly constant over
time but the partitioning of the water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water, saline water and atmospheric
is variable depending on a wide range of climatic. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as
from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation,
condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. In so doing, the water goes through
different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas (vapor). The water cycle involves the exchange of energy, which
leads to temperature changes. For instance, when water evaporates, it lakes up energy from its surroundings
and cools the environment. When it condenses, it releases energy and warms the environment. These heat
exchanges influence climate. The evaporative phase of the cycle purifies water which then replenishes the
land with freshwater. The flow of liquid water and ice transports minerals across the globe. It is also involved
in reshaping the geological features of the Earth, through processes including erosion and sedimentation.
The water cycle is also essential for the maintenance of most life and ecosystems on the planet. The Sun,
which drives the water cycle, heats water in oceans and seas. Water evaporates as water vapor into the air.
lce and snow can sublimate directly into water vapor. Evapotranspiration is water transpired from plants and
evaporated from the soil. Rising air currents take the vapor up into the atmosphere where cooler temperatures
cause it to condense into clouds. Air currents move water vapor around the globe; cloud particles collide,
grow, and fall out of the upper atmospheric layers as precipitation. Some precipitation fails as snow or hail,
sleet, and can accumulate as ice caps and glaciers, which can store frozen water for thousands of years.
Most water falls back into the oceans or onto land as rain, where the water flows over the ground as surface.
A portion of runoff enters rivers in valleys in the landscape, with stream flow moving water towards the
oceans. Runoff and water emerging from the ground (groundwater) may be stored as freshwater in lakes.
Not all runoff flows into rivers, much of it soaks into the ground as infiltration. Some water infiltrates deep into
the ground and replenishes aquifers, which can store freshwater for long periods of time. Some infiltration
stays close to the land surface and can seep back into surface-water bodies (and the ocean) as groundwater
discharge. Some groundwater finds openings in the land surface and comes out as freshwater springs. In
river valleys and flood-plains there is often continuous water exchange between surface water and ground
water in the hyporheic zone. Over time, the water returns to the ocean, to continue the water cycle.
 Fig. 4 Water cycle
Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/water-cycle
Carbon Cycle
All living things are composed of organic molecules that contain atoms of the element that carbon. The carbon
cycle includes the processes and pathways involved in capturing inorganic carbon-containing molecules,
converting them into organic molecules that are used by organisms, and the ultimate release of inorganic
carbon molecules back to the abiotic environment.
The same carbon atoms are used over and over again. In fact, you are not exactly the same person today
that you were yesterday. Some of your carbon atoms are different. Furthermore, those carbon atoms have
been involved in many other kinds of living things over the past several billion years. Some of them were
temporary residents in dinosaurs, extinct trees, or insects, but at this instant, they are part of you. Carbon
atoms are cycled through ecosystems. Plants can incorporate carbon atoms from carbon dioxide into organic
molecules when they carry on photosynthesis, The carbon-containing organic molecules are passed to
animals when they eat plants or other animals. Organic wastes or dead organisms are consumed by decay
organisms. All organism, plants, animals, and decomposers return carbon atoms to the atmosphere when
they carry on respiration. Oxygen atoms are being cycled at the same time that carbon atoms are being
cycled.
 Fig. 5 The Carbon Cycle
Source: https://scied.ucar.edu/carbon-cycle

Oxygen cycle, circulation of oxygen in various forms through nature. Free in the air and dissolved in water,
oxygen is second only to nitrogen in abundance among uncombined elements in the atmosphere. Plants and
animals use oxygen to respire and return it to the air and water as carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 is then taken
up by algae and terrestrial green plants and converted into carbohydrates during the process of
photosynthesis, oxygen being a by-product. The waters of the world are the main oxygen generators of the
biosphere; their algae are estimated to replace about 90 percent of all oxygen used. Oxygen is involved to
some degree in all the other biogeochemical cycles. For example, over time, detritus from living organisms
transfers oxygen-containing compounds such as calcium carbonates into the lithosphere.

Fig. 6 Oxygen Cycle

Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/oxygen-cycle
Nitrogen cycle, circulation of nitrogen in various forms through nature. Nitrogen, a component of proteins
and nucleic acids, is essential to life on Earth. Although 78 percent by volume of the atmosphere is nitrogen
gas, this abundant reservoir exists in a form unusable by most organisms. Through a series of microbial
transformations, however, nitrogen is made available to plants, which in turn ultimately sustain all animal life.
The steps, which are not altogether sequential, fall into the following classifications: nitrogen fixation, nitrogen
assimilation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification.

Fig.7 Nitrogen cycle

Source: https://cdn.britannica.com/77/54477-050-
B52A4BA9/nitrogen-cycle.jpg

The phosphorus cycle

Phosphorus is a chemical element found on Earth in numerous compound forms, such as the phosphate ion
(PO43-), located in water, soil and sediments. The quantities of phosphorus in soil are generally small, and
this often limits plant growth. That is why people often apply phosphate fertilizers on farmland. Animals absorb
phosphates by eating plants or plant-eating animals. The role of phosphorus in animals and plants
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for animals and plants. It plays a critical role in cell development and is
a key component of molecules that store energy, such as ATP (adenosine triphosphate), DNA and lipids (fats
and oils). Insufficient phosphorus in the soil can result in a decreased crop yield.
The phosphorus cycle
Phosphorus moves in a cycle through rocks, water, soil and sediments and organisms.
Here are the key steps of the phosphorus cycle
Over time, rain and weathering cause rocks to release phosphate ions and other minerals. This inorganic
phosphate is then distributed in soils and water.
Plants take up inorganic phosphate from the soil. The plants may then be consumed by animals. Once in the
plant or animal, the phosphate is incorporated into organic molecules such as DNA. When the plant or animal
dies, it decays, and the organic phosphate is returned to the soil.
Within the soil, organic forms of phosphate can be made available to plants by bacteria that break down
organic matter to inorganic forms of phosphorus. This process is known as mineralisation.
Phosphorus in soil can end up in waterways and eventually oceans. Once there, it can be incorporated into
sediments over time.

Fig. 8 Phosphorus cycle

Source: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/1066-the-
phosphorus-cycle

Sulfur Cycle
Sulfur is released from geologic sources through the weathering of rocks. Once sulfur is exposed to the air,
i+ combines with oxygen, and becomes sulfate SO4Plants and microbes assimilate sulfate and convert it into
organic forms. As animals consume plants, the sulfur is moved through the food chain and released when
organisms die and decompose. Some bacteria - for example Proteus, Campylobacter, Pseudomonas and
Salmonella - have the ability to reduce sulfur, but can also use oxygen and other terminal electron. Others,
such as Desulfuromonas, use only sulfur. These bacteria get their energy by reducing elemental sulfur to
hydrogen sulfide. They may combine this reaction with the oxidation of acetate, succinate, or other
compounds. Organic The most well-known sulfur reducing bacteria are those in the domain Archea, which
are some of the oldest are forms of life on Earth. They are often extremophiles, living in hot springs and
thermal vents where other organisms cannot live. Lots of bacteria reduce small amounts of sulfates to
synthesize sulfur-containing cell components; this is known as assimilatory sulfate reduction. By contrast, the
sulfate- reducing bacteria considered here reduce sulfate in large amounts to obtain energy and expel the
resulting sulfide as waste. This process is known as dissimilatory sulfate known as reduction. In a sense,
they breathe sulfate. Dissimilatory sulfate Sulfur metabolic pathways for bacteria have important medical
implications. For example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacteria causings tuberculosis) and
Mycobacteriumn leprae (which causes leoprosy) both utilize sulfur, so the sulfur pathway is a target of drug
development to control these bacteria.
 Fig. 8 Sulfur Cycle
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_cycle

1. Mineralization of organic sulfur into inorganic forms, such as hydrogen (HS), elemental sulfur, as
well as sulfide minerals.
2. Oxidation of. hydrogen sulfide, sulfide, and elemental sulfur (S) to sulfate (SO42-).
3. Reduction of sulfate to sulfide.
4. Incorporation of sulfide into organic compounds (including metal-containing derivatives)