Transcript CarbonandNitrogenCycle(1)

Carbon and Nitrogen
Cycle
prepared by Suleyman Soyel
Carbon Cycle
is the 6th element in the periodic
table. It is one of the most common
element in organic molecules.
 The structure and the shape of a pure
carbon atom is like a soccer-ball which is
shown below;
 Carbon
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Where do we find Carbon?
 Carbon
can be found in the air as Carbon
dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide gas is highly
soluble in water, due to this property it can
be found in seas, lakes, ponds, etc.
 In addition, Carbon also can be found in
solid forms, such as graphite.
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How can we recycle carbon
dioxide?
 Carbon
dioxide is recycled in the carbon
cycle. Carbon cycle is a combination of
processes which keeps atmospheric
carbon dioxide level constant. Carbon
cycle is consist of four basic processes;
1)Photosynthesis,
2)Respiration,
3)Decay of death organisms, and
4)Combustion.
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How the carbon cycle works?
 Carbon
is only able to get into
ecosystems by the help of the plants. The
photosynthesis process which is carried
out by plants, absorbs the CO2 from the air
and transforms it into carbon based
compounds. For example, glucose which
has a molecular formula of C6H12O6 .
6CO2 + 6 H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
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 The
animals obtain their carbon by either
eating plants or other animals.
 Decomposers (detritivores), get their
carbon from death and decaying
organisms by digesting them. Feeding on
dead materials is known as saprobiontic
nutrition. Fungi and other soil microbes
can be examples for decomposers.
 Dead animals, plants and other living
organisms, turn into fossils where there is
no decomposers around (deep oceans).
The conversation of carbon into fossil fuels
take long time like millions of years.
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“Return of the carbon” into the
atmosphere
 Carbon
turns into the atmosphere by two
basic process;
1)Respiration
2)Combustion (burning of fossil fuels)
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 Plants,
animals and other living organisms
do respiration in order to survive. The
respiration causes release of CO2 into the
atmosphere.
 Other way of releasing CO2 into the
atmosphere is the burning down of fossil
fuels by factories, cars, etc. (click)
 The release of CO2 is important for plants
to do photosynthesis. On the other hand,
excess amount of CO2 in the atmosphere
can cause harmful effects.
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How the carbon amount increases
in the air?

The carbon concentration is increasing day by
day. The most important variable for this is
humans! We burn huge quantities of fossil fuels
by using cars, buses, etc. In addition, cutting
down of large areas of forest is another
important variable for the increase of carbon in
the air.
 As a result of these actions, carbon level in the
air is getting higher than it is expected.
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Harms of high amount of carbon in
the air!
 The
harms of high amount of carbon in the
atmosphere are;
1)Causes acid rains
2)Global warming.
3)Causes Air pollution.
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Nitrogen
is the 7th element in the periodic
table, next to carbon.
 Nitrogen is found in the atmosphere as N2
gas molecules. In living organisms,
nitrogen can be found in the structure of
proteins, amino acids, etc.
 Nitrogen
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Why do plants and animals need
nitrogen?
 Animals
and plants require nitrogen for
protein and nucleic acid production.
However, they can not take nitrogen gas
directly from atmosphere. Only special
kind of bacteria can absorb N2 gas and
use it.
 As a result of this; plants, animals are
dependent to the nitrogen cycle which
involves conversion of N2 gas into nitrates.
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Nitrogen cycle


The gaseous nitrogen is
absorbed from
atmosphere by nitrogen
fixing bacteria in roots of
legumes; e.g. White
Clover, Trifolium repens
have nitrogen-fixing
bacteria attached to its
roots.
There are also free living
nitrogen fixing bacteria
which do not require any
plant to live with and do
especially the same
function with others.
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
Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria converts N2
into ammonium ions
(NH4+)
 There are other
organisms such as
decomposers
(bacteria, fungi) that
converts N into
ammonium in dead
animals and plants by
a process called
ammonification.

However there is one
more way to restore
the ammonium ions in
the soil;
 By precipitation,
thunders restore a
small amount of the
ammonium in the soil.
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 The
next step is the conversion of
ammonium into nitrites (NO2-). This
process is known as nitrification which is
carried out by a bacteria known as
nitrifying bacteria.
 Then Nitrogen fixing bacteria converts
nitrites into nitrate salts (NO3-)which can be
absorbed by plants.
 Plants are able to absorb nitrate salts from
the soil for protein synthesis, nucleic acid
synthesis, amino acid synthesis, etc.
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Turning back to atmosphere…
 Nitrates
turn back to atmosphere by
denitrification process. This process is
carried out by a special kind of bacteria
which lives in the soil, known as
denitrifying bacteria.
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Nitrogen level in the atmosphere

Nitrogen gas occupies 78.1% of the atmosphere.
It is the most common gas in the atmosphere.
 An increase in nitrogen level can cause long
term damage to plant communities and may be
the more serious problem about increased
nitrogen is that it decreases species diversity
and dramatically changes community
composition.
 For example; a twelve year study of Minnesota
grasslands showed that species richness
declined by 50 percent and bunch grasses were
replaced by weedy grasses.
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What can we do about it?
 What
can we do to reduce the excess
amount of nitrogen in the air is to;
 Use filtration for fossil fuel burning in
vehicles.
 Assess a port fee for pollution loading as
ship traffic is a major source of pollutants.
 Spreading nitrogen absorbers into water
sources or soil in order to mitigate nitrogen
pollution.
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THE END
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