Date: 06|06|2022

Sunday

THE NUTRIENT CYCLES

THE NITROGEN AND THE WATER CYCLES
 THE NUTRIENT CYCLES
Learning Objectives

After completing the lesson, you should be able to:-

 Demonstrate the importance of nitrogen in our lives

 Express how nitrogen can be helpful to plants
 Expound how too much or too little nitrogen can prove to be harmful to our ecosystem
 Define nitrogen cycle and explain how it works
 Describe the stages of the nitrogen cycle and explain briefly
 Elucidate how nitrogen cycle helps in the marine ecosystem
 THE NITROGEN element

INTRODUCTION TO NITROGEN:
Nitrogen, or N, using its scientific abbreviation, is a colorless,
odorless element. Nitrogen is in the soil under our feet, in the water
we drink, and in the air we breathe. In fact, nitrogen is the most
abundant element in Earth’s atmosphere: approximately 78% of
the atmosphere is nitrogen! Nitrogen is important to all living
things, including us.
 THE NITROGEN element

※ Nitrogen, the most abundant element in our

atmosphere, is crucial to life. Nitrogen is found
in soils and plants, in the water we drink, and
in the air we breathe. It is also essential to life:
a key building block of DNA, which determines
our genetics, is essential to plant growth, and
therefore necessary for the food we grow.
 THE NITROGEN element

THE NITROGEN
※ But as with everything, balance is key: ELEMENT
too little nitrogen and plants cannot
thrive, leading to low crop yields; but too
much nitrogen can be toxic to plants, and
can also harm our environment. Plants
that do not have enough nitrogen become
yellowish and do not grow well and can
have smaller flowers and fruits.
THE NITROGEN element Click icon to add picture

Farmers can add nitrogen fertilizer

to produce better crops, but too
much can hurt plants and animals,
and pollute our aquatic systems.
Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle
-- how nitrogen moves from the
atmosphere to earth, through soils
and back to the atmosphere in an
endless cycle - can help us grow
healthy crops and protect our
environment.
3
.
 THE NITROGEN CYCLE

 KEY DEFINATION:
※ Nitrogen Cycle: a continuous series of a biogeochemical process through
which nitrogen is converted into many forms, consecutively passing from
the atmosphere (air) to the soil to organisms and back into the atmosphere
involving principally nitrogen fixation, decomposition, nitrification and
denitrification.
 NITROGEN CYCLE
THE NITROGEN
CYCLE

This cycle is essential in NITROGEN AMMONIFICA

TION
DENITRIFICA
FIXATION TION
maintaining a proper
ecological balance and is
present in both marine ASSIMILATIO NITRIFICATIO
N N
and terrestrial
ecosystems.
 STAGE 1: NITROGEN FIXATION

⁂ The conversion of nitrogen gas (N2) into nitrates and nitrites through atmospheric, industrial and
biological processes is called nitrogen fixation. Atmospheric nitrogen must be processed, or "fixed", into
a usable form to be taken up by plants.
⁂ Between 5 and 10 billion kg per year are fixed by lightning strikes, but most fixation is done by free-
living or symbiotic bacteria known as diazotrophs. These bacteria have the nitrogenase enzyme that
combines gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to produce ammonia, which is converted by the bacteria into
other organic compounds.
⁂ Today, about 30% of the total fixed nitrogen is produced industrially using the Haber-Bosch process,
which uses high temperatures and pressures to convert nitrogen gas and a hydrogen source (natural gas
or petroleum) into ammonia.
 STAGE 1: NITROGEN FIXATION

STAGE 1

NITROGEN
FIXATION

HABER
LIGHTNING BACTERIA
PROCESS
 STAGE 2: Assimilation

⁂ Plants can absorb nitrate or ammonium from the soil by their root hairs. If nitrate is absorbed, it is first
reduced to nitrite ions and then ammonium ions for incorporation into amino acids, nucleic acids, and
chlorophyll.
⁂ In plants that have a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia, some nitrogen is assimilated in the form of
ammonium ions directly from the nodules. It is now known that there is a more complex cycling of amino
acids between Rhizobia bacteroid and plants.
⁂ The plant provides amino acids to the bacteroides so ammonia assimilation is not required and the bacteroides
pass amino acids (with the newly fixed nitrogen) back to the plant, thus forming an interdependent
relationship.
 STAGE 3: DECOMPOSITION

⁂ When a plant or animal dies or an animal expels waste, the nitrogen in its tissues is in the form of
organic nitrogen (e.g. amino acids, DNA).

⁂ Various Bacteria, prokaryotes or fungi then decompose the tissue and release inorganic nitrogen back
into the ecosystem as ammonium (NH4+) in the process known as ammonification or decomposition.
 STAGE 4: NITRIFICATION

⁂ The conversion of ammonium to nitrate is performed primarily by soil-living bacteria and other
nitrifying bacteria.
⁂ In the primary stage of nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium (NH4+) is performed by bacteria such
as the Nitrosomonas species, which converts ammonia to nitrites (NO2-).
⁂ Other bacterial species such as Nitrobacter, are responsible for the oxidation of the nitrites (NO2-) into
nitrates (NO3-).
⁂ It is important for the ammonia (NH3) to be converted to nitrates or nitrites because ammonia gas is
toxic to plants.
STAGE 4: NITRIFICATION

NITROSOMONAS NITROBACTER

AMMONIA NITRITE NITRATE

(NH3+) (NO2-) (NO3-)
 STAGE 5: DENITRIFICATION

⁂ Denitrification is the reduction of nitrates back into nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle.
⁂ This process is performed by bacterial species such as Pseudomonas and Paracoccus, under anaerobic
conditions.
⁂ They use the nitrate as an electron acceptor in the place of oxygen during respiration. These facultatively
(meaning optionally) anaerobic bacteria can also live in aerobic conditions. Denitrification happens in
anaerobic conditions e.g. waterlogged soils.
⁂ The denitrifying bacteria use nitrates in the soil to carry out respiration and consequently produce
nitrogen gas, which is inert and unavailable to plants.
⁂ Denitrification occurs in free-living microorganisms as well as obligate symbionts of anaerobic ciliates.
 THE MARINE NITROGEN CYCLE

※ As mentioned before, the

nitrogen cycle is an important
process in the ocean as well.
While the overall cycle is
similar, there are different
players and modes of transfer
for nitrogen in the ocean.
 THE MARINE NITROGEN CYCLE

⁂ Nitrogen enters the water through the precipitation, runoff, or as N2 from the atmosphere.
⁂ Nitrogen cannot be utilized by phytoplankton as N2 so it must undergo nitrogen fixation which is
performed predominately by cyanobacteria.
⁂ Phytoplankton need nitrogen in biologically available forms for the initial synthesis of organic matter.
Ammonia and urea are released into the water by excretion from plankton.
⁂ Nitrogen sources are then removed from the euphotic zone by the downward movement of the organic
matter. This can occur from sinking of phytoplankton, vertical mixing, or sinking of waste of vertical
migrators.
 THE MARINE NITROGEN CYCLE

⁂ This can occur from sinking of phytoplankton, vertical mixing, or sinking of waste of vertical migrators.
The sinking results in ammonia being introduced at lower depths below the euphotic zone.
⁂ Bacteria are able to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrate but they are inhibited by light so this must
occur below the euphotic zone. Ammonification or decomposition also known as Mineralization is
performed by bacteria to convert organic nitrogen to ammonia.
⁂ Nitrification can then occur to convert the ammonium to nitrite and nitrate can be returned to the
euphotic zone by vertical mixing and upwelling where it can be taken up by phytoplankton to continue
the cycle.
⁂ N2 can be returned to the atmosphere through denitrification.
 HAVE A
GREAT
DAY!

[the end]

Have you accomplished the learning LOVE
BIOLOGY!

objectives??
A REMINDER: BE KIND AND
LOVE KNOWLEDGE. PERFORMED BY: SURAIYA SNEHA