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Ecosystem Recycling Biogeochemical Cycles:
Oxygen
Carbon
Sulfur
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Calcium
While energy flows through an ecosystem, water and minerals are recycled.
Water
Carbon NitrogenOxygen
Water, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen travels through a biogeochemical cycle, moving
from the abiotic parts of an ecosystem into the biotic parts, and back again.
Carbon Cycle
Temperate rainforests store vast amounts of carbon,
both above and below ground.
The Carbon Cycle
All living things are made up of organicmolecules that contain carbon. Just like
water, the amount of carbon on Earth has not changed since the formation of Earth,
it has just been recycled.
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The Carbon Cycle
Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, during photosynthesis, and
convert it into simple carbohydrates.
The Carbon Cycle
Consumers break down carbohydrates during cellular respiration and release
carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.
The Carbon Cycle
During decomposition of organic wastes, carbon dioxide is also released into the
atmosphere.
Carbon Sinks:
1. Marine viruses and phytoplankton
2. Forests
3. Coral reefs
The Carbon Cycle
Organic wastes that are not decomposedare buried and converted into fossil fuels.
The Carbon Cycle
The burning of fossils fuels for mechanical use, during combustion, also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
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Carbon Cycle
Brazil’s rainforests re-cycle
carbon faster than any other
ecosystem.
Carbon Cycle
Today, the earth’s atmosphere is accumulating
CO2 faster that it can be sequestered.
vrs
Carbon sink
Carbon stink
Carbon Cycle Carbon Cycle
The earth’s “core” temperature is rising
Oxygen Cycle
Brazil’s forests produce 40% of the earth’s atmospheric oxygen
The Oxygen Cycle
21% of our Atmosphere consists of oxygen gas. Most life forms depend upon oxygen during
cellular respiration to help release the energy found in their foods.
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The Oxygen Cycle
During the day, plants release oxygen into the atmosphere, during photosynthesis.
The Oxygen Cycle
At night, plants take in oxygen from the atmosphere and use it for cellular respiration.
The Oxygen Cycle
During both day and night, animals and fungi take oxygen from atmosphere and use it for
cellular respiration.
The Oxygen Cycle
The same processes happen underwater as well. Aquatic plants and phytoplankton release dissolved
oxygen into the water during photosynthesis.
The Oxygen Cycle
Animals remove the dissolved oxygen from the waterduring cellular respiration.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is an essential element for all life and used to form proteins and nucleic acids. Like water and carbon, nitrogen is also recycled
through ecosystems.
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Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere. However, it exists as nitrogen gas, N2, and is held together by a triple covalent bond
that most organisms cannot break.
The Nitrogen Cycle
The only organisms that can break the covalent bonds in atmospheric nitrogen are symbiotic bacteria that live on the roots of
legume plants (beans and peanuts).
The Nitrogen Cycle
The Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Fixing bacteria, on roots of legumes, fix nitrogen gas into ammonia,
nitrate, and nitrite during nitrogen fixation.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Plants then take up the nitrogen products and use it to form proteins and
nucleic acids.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Animals obtain nitrogen by eating plants or other animals that ate plants. Excess
nitrogen is released in urine or feces.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Anaerobic bacteria break down the nitrogen products in plant and animal wastes into
nitrogen gas that is released into the atmosphere during denitrification.
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George Washington Carver
George Washington Carver was a botanist and teacher that prompted farmers to plant more legumes, especially
peanuts, to enrich soils that had become nutrient poor after being used to grow cotton over and over again.
(He also invented Peanut Butter)
http://intotheoutdoors.org/topics/discovery-of-nitrogen-fixation/
The End
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