Transcript Slide 1
Stefanny Wilches & jenny Arias The Nitrogen Cycle The earth atmosphere consist of five different biogeochemical cycles of matter * * * * * Carbon Phosphorus Sulfur Water Nitrogen What is nitrogen? • A nonmetallic element that makes up about 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume, occurring as a colorless, odorless gas. It is a component of all proteins, making it essential for life, and it is also found in various nitric acid, TNT, and fertilizers. • Symbol N • Atomic number 7 • Atomic weight 14.00674 • Density 1.25 gram per liter Did you know...... o Nitrogen is in the human body, blood, bones, tissue, and the total amount of nitrogen in the body is 1.8 kilograms. o If the nitrogen level rises above 78 percent you will die of asphyxiation. o Without nitrogen plants would not grow. Lets get to the point!! … … .. What is exactly the NITROGEN CYCLE?? • Nitrogen cycle is known to be an essential part of the living planet. Continuous of the Nitrogen Cycle • Nitrogen cycle is the continuous process by which nitrogen is exchanged between organism and the environment. • Some of the atmosphere’s free nitrogen combines with other elements to form compounds that are deposited in the soil. • Nitrogen then is passed into the food chain and return to the soil by the metabolism and decay of plants and animals. Nitrogen Cycle has five steps: • • • • • Nitrogen-fixation Nitrification Assimilation Ammonification Denitrification Nitrogen-fixation The process by which free nitrogen from the air is combined with other elements to form organic compounds that plants can use as nutrients. Cyanobacteria and certain other form of bacteria, especially those that live in the roots of legumes, convert gaseous nitrogen into organic compound. Nitrogen goes through a process where inorganic material gets incorporated into living things from which it may emerge as excrete from animals or from microorganism that decomposes dead matter this process is known as “fixed”. NITROGE-FIXATION Nitrification ◊ The process by which bacteria in soil oxidize ammonia to form nitrates and nitrites. ◊ ◊ How is used…. ◊ The roots of the plants absorb the nitrates and nitrites from the ground. Therefore, nitrification is an important step in the nitrogen cycle. ◊ After that two more steps are needed to finish the nitrification process. ◊ First, soil bacteria convert ammonia to nitrate. ◊ Finally, another soil bacterium oxidizes nitrate to nitrate. Assimilate • When the roots of the plants break down the molecules of ammonia, take out the nutrients and turn them into plant proteins and nucleic acid. • Another way in which nitrogen is assimilated is throughout animals, whenever animals bite of plant tissue they assimilate nitrogen by taking in the plant nitrogen compounds and changing them to animal compounds. Ammonification • The transformation of biological compounds into ammonia. • Ammonification starts taking organism that produce nitrogen containing waste plus the nitrogen compounds that occur in dead organism, which are then are decompose releasing the nitrogen into the environment as ammonia. • This process is done by a bacteria called ammonifying bacteria. • The ammonia that is mode by ammonification is later on re-used for nitrification and assimilation. Denitrification • Is the process of reduction of nitrate to gaseous nitrogen. • Denitrifying bacteria helps to return nitrogen to the atmosphere as nitrogen gas. This is a type of bacteria is usually found in places that lack oxygen. 3 different ways the nitrogen cycle impact humans • Humans double the amount of “fixed” nitrogen entering the global nitrogen cycle. Which is severely affecting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. • Another example of how humans are impacting nitrogen is throughout large quantities of nitrogen fertilizer. The outcome of increasing the use of this fertilizer is higher crops and can also caused water quality problems that may explain long-term declines is coastal fisheries. • Other ways in which nitrogen impact humans is when fertilizers the wash down through the soil and pollute groundwater. Are you ready for the nitrogen cycle game????