Nitrogen is Also Recycled in the Nitrogen Cycle Flashcards
How much nitrogen gas does the atmosphere contain?
About 78% nitrogen
What is nitrogen needed for?
Making proteins for growth, so living organsi,s have to get it somehow
Where do plants get their nitrogen from?
The soil
What does nitrogen in the air need to be turned into before plants can use it?
Nitrogen compounds
What can animals only get proteins from?
By eating plants (or each other)
What is nitrogen fixation?
Process of turning N2 from the air into nitrogen compounds in the soil which plants can use
Lightning -
There’s enough energy in a bolt of lightning to make nitrogen react with oxygen in the air to give nitrates
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria -
In roots and soil
What are the 4 types of bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle?
Decomposers
Nitrifying bacteria
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
Denitrifying bacteria
Decomposers -
Break down proteins and urea and turn them into ammonia
Nitrifying bacteria -
Turn ammonia in decaying matter into nitrates
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria -
Turn atmospheric N2 into nitrogen compounds that plants can use
Denitrifying bacteria -
Turn nitrates back into N2 gas. This is of no benefit to living organisms
Where do some of these bacteria live?
Some live in the soil
Some live in nodules on plant roots
Look at diagram page 70
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