Water, carbon, nitrogen, and

phosphorus all take paths from the

non-living environment to living
organisms, such as trees, and then
back to the non-living environment.
These paths form cycles, known as
biogeochemical cycles.
Why is it important to have cycling
of materials?
 Because there are only finite amounts of
nutrients available on the earth, they must
be recycled in order to ensure the
continued existence of living organisms
The importance of the carbon and
nitrogen cycles to ecosystems is that
both are essential elements for living
things. These cycles help in moving
these elements between living things
and the environment, and they provide
the raw materials for biosynthesis.