Nutrient Sources & Transfomrations

Question 1

What’s a nutrient and why organisms need them

Answer 1

Specific chemical element for metabolism, growth, reproduction, etc

Question 2

Carbon vs nitrogen

Answer 2

Carbon is the main component of plant structural compounds (think cellulose)
Nitrogen is largely tied up in proteins (think peptide bonds)

Question 3

Source of nutrients in environment

Answer 3

Ultimately derive from abiotic forces, once sourced can cycle within ecosystem, can be found in gases in the atmosphere, released fro, rock a process called weathering

Question 4

Different horizons of soils

Answer 4

Formed over time
Accumulation of organic matter, chemical alteration and leaching
Climate influenced rate or soil development (fastest in warm/wet)

Question 5

Role of fixation

Answer 5

Process by which organisms turn inorganic compounds into organic compounds/ molecules

Question 6

Role of decomposition in soil production

Answer 6

Fragmentation->mineralization->soluble nutrients