Why are biogeochemical cycles important?
It is a pathway for chemicals necessary for life to move through the environment.
What components make up a biogeochemical cycle?
Living and nonliving.
What are three biogeochemical cycles?
Carbon, nitrogen and water.
What are some types of matter in an ecosystem or environment?
Water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.
What is so special about matter?
It cannot be created or destroyed, it has to be recycled. This ensures that we do not use up or lose these essential materials.
What makes the nitrogen cycle succeed?
Decomposers and certain plants.
Where is nitrogen very abundant?
The atmosphere.
What does nitrogen fixing bacteria convert nitrogen into?
Ammonia and nitrates.
What is nitrogen needed for?
The structure of living things.
How do animals (including humans) acquire nitrogen?
Eating plants or other organisms.
Who uses ammonia and nitrates?
Plants.
How does nitrogen get back into the atmosphere?
Fertilizer production and burning fossil fuels. (Evaporation?)
How do ammonia and nitrates get into the ocean?
Runoff and nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the ocean converts nitrogen to ammonia and nitrates.
What is usually recycled with carbon in the carbon cycle?
Oxygen
Who has a role in the carbon cycle?
Producers, consumers and decomposers.
Why is it essential for carbon and oxygen to be recycled in the environment?
Carbon is the basic building block of all living things. Oxygen is used for the life process of most organisms.
What are the carbon and oxygen cycles closely tied to?
Photosynthesis.
What is the role of plants in the carbon cycle?
Remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
What is the role of decomposers in the carbon cycle?
They release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere when they break down dead organisms.
What are some ways that carbon dioxide gets back into the atmosphere?
Plants and animals release carbon dioxide as a part of cellular respiration, the burning of fossil fuels, and carbon dioxide dissolved in water can disperse into the atmosphere.
What is the driving force behind the water cycle?
The sun.
How does the sun effect the water cycle?
The sun provides the energy it takes for seawater to evaporate, which allows water to enter the atmosphere and the cycle to continue from there.
What are some of the processes in the water cycle?
Evaporation, precipitation, condensation and transpiration.
What is the largest reservoir of water on earth?
The oceans.
In what "state" is water in the atmosphere?
Vapor
How does water get from the atmosphere to earth?
Precipitation
How does water get back into the atmosphere?
Evaporation, living things give off water vapor during respiration.
What is the second largest reservoir of fresh water on earth?
Groundwater
How does water get into the aquifers (groundwater reservoirs)?
Water percolates through the surface (ground).