Recycling Flashcards
Why does carbon need to be recycled?
So it can be made available to other organisms.
How is CO2 released into the air?
- Plants and animals respiring
- Bacteria and fungi acting as decomposers
- Burning fossils fuels (combustion)
How is carbon removed from the air?
Photosynthesis in plant.
How do oceans affect the carbon cycle?
Oceans absorb CO2 and marine animals form shells from carbonate which become limestone. Carbon is released back into the air during volcanic eruptions or erosion of the limestone.
What is the basic nitrogen cycle?
1) Plants absorb nitrates from the soil to make proteins for growth.
2) Nitrogen is passed along the food chain as the plants are eaten by animals.
3) Nitrogen compounds in dead animals are broken down by decomposers and the nitrogen returns to the soil.
How do the decomposers work in the nitrogen cycle?
Bacteria and fungi convert proteins from animals into ammonia for the soil.
What does nitrifying bacteria do?
Converts ammonium ions from the soil into nitrates for the plant proteins.
What does denitrifying bacteria do?
Converts the nitrates in the soil into nitrogen gas to be released back into the air.
What does nitrogen-fixing bacteria do?
Live in root nodules and fix nitrogen gas into nitrates (also happens in lightning).
How would waterlogged or acidic soils slow down the nitrogen cycle?
The bacteria decomposers would not have an optimum O2 level or pH level.