ETIABO: Nutrient cycles- Fertilisers Flashcards
The use of natural and artificial fertilisers to replace the nitrates and phosphates lost by harvesting plants and removing livestock. environmental issue from fertilisers; leaching and eutrophication
1
Q
Harvesting crops and removing livestock from a field ______ available nutrients in the soil.
A
Decreases
2
Q
Why does harvesting crops and removing livestock from a field decrease the amount of nutrients available in the soil?
A
Nutrients are locked in the crops and livestock that have been removed. They will not enter the soil via excretion and death of this organic matter.
3
Q
Low soil nutrient levels will ______ the growth of a new crop.
A
Decrease
4
Q
Name the 3 natural fertilisers made from organic matter:
A
- Manure
- Crop residue
- Compost
5
Q
Name the 2 artificial fertilisers made from inorganic matter:
A
- Ammonium nitrate
- Rock phosphate
6
Q
One environmanetal issue from the use of fertilisers is ______.
A
Eutrophication
7
Q
Explain what happens in the stages of eutrophication?
A
- Water-soluble excess nutrients leave the farmland and enter nearby bodies of water. (leaching stage)
- This causes vast growth of algae on the water’s surface. (algae bloom stage)
- This blocks sunlight, meaning aquatic plants below the surface of the water are unable to photosynthesise and die.
- The decreasing amount of nutrients in the water means that the algae also dies.
- Saprobionts feed on the dead algae and plants, causing them to increase in number.
- Saprobionts resipire aerobically, so they use up the dissolved oxygen in the water- triggering the death of aquatic aerobic organisms e.g. fish, insects.
