Cycling of Matter - Springfield Public Schools - Home 2.3 ppt.pdf · • Matter – anything that...
Transcript of Cycling of Matter - Springfield Public Schools - Home 2.3 ppt.pdf · • Matter – anything that...
2.3
Cycling of Matter
Main Idea
• Essential nutrients are cycled through biogeochemical processes.
Cycles in the Biosphere
• A constant supply of usable energy for the biosphere is needed.
• But the law of conservation of mass states “ matter can neither be created nor
destroyed”. • So this matter must be cycled through
natural processes in the biosphere.
Cycles in the Biosphere
• Matter – anything that takes up space and has mass – Provides the nutrients needed for organisms
to function
• Nutrient – a chemical substance that an organism must obtain from its environment to sustain life and to undergo life processes
Cycles in the Biosphere
• The cycling of nutrients in the biosphere involves both matter in living organisms and physical process s found in the environment – Examples: weathering of rocks
• Biogeochemical cycle – the exchange of matter through the biosphere
The Water Cycle
• Living organisms need water to survive • Where can you find water?
The Water Cycle
Water is constantly evaporating into the atmosphere
The Water Cycle
• Water is constantly evaporating into the atmosphere
• Water vapor – water in the atmosphere • Clouds – form when the cooling water
vapor condenses into droplets around dust • Precipitation – rain, sleet, or hail
– this is water falling from the clouds back to the Earth’s surface
The Water Cycle
• Ground water – water that flows into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans and then evaporates back into the atmosphere
• About 3% of the water in the world is freshwater
Carbon and Oxygen cycles
• Oxygen is another element that is important to many life processes
• Photosynthesis – when green plants and algae use carbon dioxide and water to make carbohydrates and release oxygen back into the air
• Carbon dioxide is recycled when other organisms undergo cellular respiration
Carbon and Oxygen cycles
• Carbon is also released when fossil fuels are burned, thus adding carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
• Carbon and Oxygen are also stored in calcium carbonate deposits in the ocean from the shells of plankton, coral, clams, and oysters
The Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrogen is an element found in proteins • Plants and animals cannot use nitrogen
directly, they need bacteria to help them. • Nitrogen Fixation – is when a bacteria
converts nitrogen gas into a usable form for plants
• Lightning also changes nitrogen to a usable form
The Nitrogen Cycle
• Nitrogen returns to the soil when an animal urinates or dies
• Denitrification – soil bacteria convert fixed nitrogen back into nitrogen gas that then returns into the atmosphere
Phosphorus Cycle
• Phosphorus is an element that is essential to the growth and development of organisms
• Short term cycle – from soil to producers, from producers to consumers, back to the soil
• Long term cycle – Weathering of rocks that contain phosphorus slowly adds phosphorus back to the cycle
• Organic phosphate moves through the food web and to the rest of the ecosystem.
Nutrient Cycles
Ocean
Land
Organisms
Sediments
End of 2.3
End of Ch. 2