Transcript Nutrient Cycling - Region 11 Math and Science Teacher Academy

NUTRIENT
CYCLING
NITROGEN
CYCLING
THROUGH ECOSYSTEMS
D. Kindersley
Nitrogen Free
Dr. Jeffrey R. Corney, Managing Director
of the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve
N
UTRIENT
CYCLING
ENERGY
FLOW
Energy Flow, Carbon & Oxygen Cycling
J. Corney
NUTRIENT CYCLING
Elmhurst
The Nitrogen Cycle
McGraw-Hill
10% of naturally
occurring available
nitrogen is generated
by lightning.
N
UTRIENT
CYCLING
ENERGY
FLOW
Nitrogen Cycling Through an Ecosystem
ECOSYSTEM
N
OTHER
SOURCES
CONSUMERS
N-cmpds
N2
1o
2o
3o
PRODUCERS
&
NOx
N-cmpds
SOIL
“SINK”
ATMOSPHERE
DECOMPOSERS
NO3- & NH4+
J. Corney
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Carbon vs. Nitrogen Cycles
Carbon cycling is mostly atmosphere based.
Nitrogen cycling is mostly soil based.
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Carbon & Nitrogen Cycles Are Linked
U.S. Dept of Energy
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In the “Top Four” Elements for Life
Pearson
ASU
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Roles of CARBON & NITROGEN:
“Life as a House”
E Patrol
If Carbon comprises the framing and roofing (FORM)…
…then Nitrogen comprises the appliances (FUNCTION).
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Key Component of Life’s Molecules
Amino Acids & Proteins
Hemoglobin & Chlorophyll
DNA & RNA
UDEL
Wikipedia
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Carbon to Nitrogen (C:N) Ratios
Plants
~ 25:1
Animals
~ 6:1
McGraw-Hill
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Nitrogen Is Abundant in Atmosphere
Atmospheric N2
U.S. EPA
…but, N2 as a gas is relatively inert to life
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Forms of Nitrogen Available for Life
Nitrogen Free
…but, only plants can absorb Nitrogen
directly from the environment
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The Nitrogen Cycle
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Organic vs. Inorganic Nitrogen
Organisms consume other organisms
and excrete inorganic wastes.
Organic (immobile)
nutrients are stored
in soil organisms
and organic matter.
Inorganic (mineral)
nutrients are usable
by plants, and are
mobile in soil.
USDA-NRCS
Organisms take up
and retain nutrients
as they grow.
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Nitrogen Cycle (zoomed in)
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Fixing Nitrogen…
Nitrogen -Fixing
Bacteria
Atmospheric
Nitrogen
N2
Nitrogen
Ammonifying
Bacteria
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Getting to Nitrate…
Nitrifying
Bacteria
Nitrosomonas
Nitrobacter
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Nutrients Need Water to Move
?
DK Clipart
Nutrient ions are
mobile while in a
solution of water.
So, how do nutrients move in soil?
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Composition of Soil
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U of Minnesota
Interstitial Spaces
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Getting Nutrients to the Plants
U of Georgia
USDA-NRCS
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Mychorrizhae: Plants & Fungi Together
90% of plant families
have mychorrizhal
associations.
Agro-Genesis
A symbiotic, mutualistic association between a fungus and the roots of plants.
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Mychorrizhal Relationship Up Close
Plant
root
Fungal
hyphae
USDA-NRCS
Mycorrhizal
structure
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10% of plant families,
mostly woody species
(e.g. pine, oak, birch)
USDA-NRCS
USDA-NRCS
Plant a Globe
2 Types of Mychorrizhal Relationships
Nature
80% of plant families,
mostly herbaceous species
(e.g. grasses, forbs)
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RHIZOSPHERE
Area of soil immediately
adjacent to plant roots and
mychorrizhal structures.
Oxford Journal
Cold Spring Harbor
Image Nature
Plant-Fungal Cellular Connection
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Fungi Help Get Nutrients into Roots
H2O
H2O
NO3-
NO3H2O
H2O
H2O
NO3H 2O
NO3NH4+
NO3-
NO3-
H 2O
NH4+
M. Harrison
NH4+
H2 O
H 2O
H2O
H2O
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Tutor Vista
Nutrients Move from Roots to Shoots
Helicon
J. Corney
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NUTRIENT
CYCLING
SOIL
ORGANISMS
& DECOMPOSITION
Dr. Jeffrey R. Corney, Managing Director
of the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve
NUTRIENT CYCLING
Formation of Soil
Brooks-Cole
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Soil Layers
Surface Litter
Top Soil
Rock
DK Clipart
Sub-Soil
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Cross-Section of Soil
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USDA-NRCS
Soil Ecosystem at Micro-level
Rose & Elliot
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McGraw-Hill
Process of Decomposition of Animals
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Brooks-Cole
Process of Decomposition of Plants
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Soil Food Chain
Landscape for Life
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Soil Food Web
Brooks-Cole
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USDA-NRCS
USDA-NRCS
USDA-NRCS
USDA-NRCS
Bacteria, Fungi, & Actinomycetes
Decompose material, mineralize nutrients, fix nitrogen, help aggregate soil particles.
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Annual Microbial Activity by Season
USDA-NRCS
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Mauby
BLM
USDA-NRCS
Protozoans
Consume bacteria and fungi, releasing nutrients when excrete wastes.
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Rodale
USDA-NRCS
TAMU
USDA-NRCS
Nematodes & Springtails
Consume bacteria, fungi, and protozoans, releasing nutrients when excrete wastes.
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Shred plant litter and consume detritus, increasing ability for microbes to
decompose material.
EcoLibrary
USDA-NRCS
USDA-NRCS
Mites, Sowbugs, Millipedes
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USDA-NRCS
Discover Life
Ants, Beetles, Spiders, Centipedes
Predators that eat other consumers, controlling populations and excreting nutrients.
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Cary Institute
WORM
Science Daily
Earthworms: “Soil Aerators”
Mix soil layers, redistributing nutrients throughout soil, and aerate the soil.
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Gophers & Ants: “Earth Movers”
Move nutrient poor sub-layers of soil to the surface, helping enrich soil layers.
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Soil Organisms By-the-Numbers
1 gram of soil
USDA-NRCS
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Soil Organisms By Type of Ecosystem
USDA-NRCS
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Soil Biodiversity by Ecosystem
USDA-NRCS
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Fun Facts About Soil
A single spade full of rich garden soil contains more species of organisms than
can be found above ground in the entire Amazon rain forest.
One cup of soil may hold as many bacteria as there are people on Earth.
The weight of all the bacteria in one acre of soil can equal the weight of a cow.
A teaspoon of soil from a coniferous forest may hold tens of miles of fungi.
The air in the upper 8 inches of a well-drained soil is completely renewed
about every hour.
The plants growing in a 2-acre field can have more than 30,000 miles of roots,
greater than the circumference of the Earth.
Mature trees can have as many as 5 million active root tips.
SOURCE: USDA-NRCS
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More Fun Facts About Soil
Twenty thousand species of nematodes have been described, but it is
thought that 500,000 species may exist.
Every time you take a step in a mature forest, your foot is being supported on
the backs of 16,000 invertebrates held up by an average total of 120,000 legs.
There is an estimated one quadrillion individual ants on the planet; that’s
approximately 150,000 ants for every one human being.
Where earthworms are active, they can turn over the entire top 6 inches of
soil in 10 to 20 years.
Pocket gopher mounds can cover as much as 25% of a grassland’s ground
surface, depositing on average 20 tons of soil per acre per year.
SOURCE: USDA-NRCS
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
THE CONCERN:
Nitrogen Deposition & Eutrophication
“Too Much of
a Good Thing”
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Global Sources of Nitrogen Today
Vitousek & Matson
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Haber-Bosch “Synthetic” Nitrogen
Fritz Haber
Carl Bosch
Invented process in early 1900s
Menlo School
Fertilizer 101
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Nitrogen Use, Agricultural Revolution,
and Human Population Growth
Tilman
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Soil Nitrogen Runoff from Fertilizer
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition
N
UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Excessive Nitrogen
in Mississippi Watershed
USGS
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Process of Eutrophication
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UTRIENT CYCLING
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSUES
Eutrophication of Coastal Gulf Waters
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Dr. Jeffrey R. Corney, Managing Director
University of Minnesota
Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve
2660 Fawn Lake Dr NE
East Bethel, MN 55005
(763) 434-5131
www.cedarcreek.umn.edu
[email protected]