Nutrient Cycling

Flashcards about nutrient cycling, covering topics such as matter vs energy, biogeochemical cycles, water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles.

What is the term for anything that takes up space and has mass?

Matter

Why is matter flow considered cyclical?

Because of the law of conservation of matter: matter is not created or destroyed, only changes form.

What is a nutrient in ecological terms?

Anything required by a living organism to sustain life (e.g., oxygen, water).

What does the prefix 'bio' refer to in the term biogeochemical?

Life; nutrients found in living things.

What does the geo refer to in the term biogeochemical?

The nonliving structural parts of Earth, like air, water, rocks, and soil

What is the importance of chemical reactions in biogeochemical cycles?

Nutrients undergo chemical reactions as they move between living things and the environment.

What are the four common processes found in all nutrient cycles?

Absorption, assimilation, consumption, and decomposition.

Why are roots crucial in nutrient cycles?

They absorb nutrients from the soil and bring them into plants.

What is assimilation in nutrient cycles?

The process where a living thing uses absorbed nutrients to build its physical body/structures.

How does consumption contribute to nutrient cycling?

It transfers nutrients from one living thing to another.

What role does decomposition play in nutrient cycles?

It returns nutrients from dead organisms back into the environment.

What are some unique processes of the water cycle?

Precipitation, runoff, groundwater, infiltration, transpiration and evaporation

What is a sink or reservoir in nutrient cycles?

A place where a nutrient gets stored or trapped for an extended period.

What are some reservoirs for water in the water cycle?

Glaciers, ice caps, oceans, lakes, and groundwater.

What is the process where water turns from liquid to vapor state?

Evaporation

What is it called when atmospheric water returns to Earth?

Precipitation

What is the process called where water seeps into the soil?

Infiltration

What is the process where plants lose water during photosynthesis?

transpiration

Name the process where animals obtain carbon from plants?

Consumption

What are some reservoirs for carbon in the carbon cycle?

Oceans, living things, and fossil fuels.

What is released through respiration?

carbon dioxide

What are fossil fuels?

Fossilized plant materials used as energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas).

What processes in the nitrogen cycle are unique?

Nitrogen fixation and denitrification.

What is the main reservoir for nitrogen?

The atmosphere.

What is nitrogen fixation?

A process where bacteria converts nitrogen gas into forms usable by plants.

What is denitrification?

The process of converting soil nitrogen back into atmospheric nitrogen.

Where is phosphorus primarily stored?

Rocks.

What is unique about the phosphorus cycle compared to other nutrient cycles?

It does not include the atmosphere.

How does phosphorus get released into the soil?

Through weathering of rocks.

What is sedimentation?

The process where layers of soil compact and harden back into rock, trapping phosphorus.