Environmental Cycles

Lecture 6
 Today’s Themes
• 1. Carbon Cycle
• 2. Nitrogen Cycle
1. Carbon Cycle
 1.1 Carbon Cycle
• The complete pathway of Carbon from the
nonliving environment to the living
environment and back to where it started
from
• Carbon cycle is based on carbon dioxide gas
 1.2 Carbon Cycle (Terrestrial)
• Plants use carbon dioxide to make their own
food. The carbon becomes part of the plant
• Plants after death may turn into fossil fuels
made of Carbon over millions of years, i.e.
coal and oil
• When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the
Carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as
carbon dioxide
1.2 Carbon Cycle (Terrestrial)

Diagram: Terrestrial Carbon Cycle

1.3 Carbon Cycle (Oceanic)

Diagram: Oceanic Carbon Cycle

 1.3 Carbon Cycle (Oceanic)
• The oceans are the second largest storage
reservoir in the Carbon cycle
• CO2 from atmosphere enters ocean water due
to photosynthesizing producers or diffusion
• Carbon gets incorporated into marine
organisms
• After death organisms sink to the bottom,
where they form carbon-rich sediments
 1.3 Carbon Cycle (Oceanic)
• Geologic processes bring sedimentary rocks to
the surface from bottom
• CO2 is released when rocks break down due to
exposure to oxygen or acid rain
• Carbon: atmosphere -> surface water ->
deeper water -> ocean floor -> surface ->
atmosphere
 1.4 Carbon Cycle’s Present Situation

• Human Activities Affecting the Carbon cycle:

• Since 1800 and especially since 1950, humans
have intervened in the earth's Carbon cycle in
two ways that increase CO2 in the atmosphere:
• (1) Clearing trees and other plants that absorb
CO2 through photosynthesis
• (2) Adding large amounts of CO2 by burning
fossil fuels and wood
2. Nitrogen Cycle
 2. Nitrogen Cycle
• Approx 80% of the air in atmosphere is made
of Nitrogen (N)
• Our body gets the N it needs from food
• Most organisms cannot use or absorb N
directly; some use N in an organic form and
others (plants, algae, bacteria) can take up N
either as nitrate ions or ammonium ion
2. Nitrogen Cycle

Diagram: Nitrogen Cycle

 2. Nitrogen Cycle
• Major steps of the N cycle:
• Nitrogen fixation: process of converting
inorganic, molecular N to ammonia
– Specialized bacteria take in atmospheric N and
convert it to ammonia
– This is done mostly by
– (1) Cyanobacteria
– (2) Rhizobium bacteria
 2. Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrification: a two-step process in which most of
the ammonia in soil is converted by specialized
bacteria to
– (1) Nitrite - toxic to plants
– (2) Nitrate - nutrient for plants
• Assimilation: plant roots absorb inorganic ammonia,
ammonium ions and nitrate ions
– They use these ions to make N-containing organic
molecules i.e. DNA, amino acids and proteins
– Animals in turn get their N by eating plants or plant-
eating animals
 2. Nitrogen Cycle
• Ammonification: After death of plants and
animals vast armies of decomposers break
down dead bodies of organisms and then
convert N into
– (1) Ammonia
– (2) Ammonium
 2. Nitrogen Cycle
• Denitrification: Other specialized bacteria
convert ammonia and ammonium ions back
into nitrite and nitrate ions and then into N
gas. These are then released to the
atmosphere to begin the cycle again
 2. Nitrogen Cycle
• Human Activities Affecting the Nitrogen Cycle:
• Mining N-containing mineral deposits- removes
N from the earth’s crust
• Removing N from topsoil by burning grasslands
and clearing forests before planting crops
• Agricultural runoff and discharge of municipal
sewage- adds N compounds to aquatic
ecosystems