Decomposition, Nutrient Cycling, & Biogeochemical Cycles

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering essential vocabulary and definitions related to decomposition, nutrient cycling, and biogeochemical cycles.

Decomposition

The breakdown of chemical bonds in organic molecules, key for recycling nutrients in ecosystems.

Decomposers

Organisms that feed on dead organic matter, such as bacteria and fungi, playing a vital role in decomposition.

Mineralization

The transformation of nutrients contained in organic compounds into inorganic forms.

Immobilization

The uptake and assimilation of minerals by microbial decomposers.

Nutrient Cycling

The transformation of organic nutrients into mineral form and back into organisms through decomposition and mineralization.

Biogeochemical Cycle

The cyclic flow of nutrients from the nonliving to the living and back to the nonliving components of an ecosystem.

Gaseous Biogeochemical Cycles

Cycles in which the main pools of nutrients are the atmosphere and oceans, such as nitrogen and carbon cycles.

Sedimentary Biogeochemical Cycles

Cycles where the main pool of nutrients is in soil, rocks, and minerals, with phosphorus being a key example.

Carbon Cycle

The process through which carbon is cycled through the atmosphere, land, and oceans, linked to global climate and energy flow.

Nitrogen Cycle

The process through which nitrogen is converted from its atmospheric form into usable forms for plants, including fixation and denitrification.

Phosphorus Cycle

The cycle in which phosphorus moves from land to sea and is primarily released by weathering, with limited recycling back to terrestrial systems.

Factors Affecting Decomposition

Plant litter quality, soil properties (texture and pH), and climate conditions (temperature and precipitation) impact the rate of decomposition.

Primary Productivity

The rate at which energy is converted by photosynthetic and chemosynthetic autotrophs to organic substances.

Leaching

The process by which soluble materials are washed out from the soil, impacting nutrient availability.

Net Primary Productivity

The amount of organic material available to consumers in an ecosystem after accounting for respiration.

Soil Nutrients

Minerals and nutrients in soil that are essential for plant growth, derived from decomposition and mineralization.