Briefly, explain the four main processes of the nitrogen cycle?
Answers
4 Steps of Nitrogen Cycle:
1. Nitrogen Fixing
In terms of atmosphere composition, nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air. Plants and animals need nitrogen to make proteins but they cannot take it in from the air. Because nitrogen is unreactive as a gas, it has to be transformed into a new molecule. When bacteria in the soil takes nitrogen from the air, it becomes nitrates and can move through the food chain.
For example, legume like clovers, peas and beans, their roots can take N2 from the air and transform into another form called nitrates. In addition, lightning transforms N2 into NO2, which goes into the soil to form nitrates. Also, synthetic fertilizer from farming can bring nitrate to the soil.
Overall, nitrogen fixation takes unreactive nitrogen from the air and fixes it into a usable form. Nitrogen is essential for building amino acids which are building blocks for DNA and RNA. Nitrogen is used to make amino acids for growth.
2 Decomposition and Ammonification
After nitrogen fixation, roots of plants absorb the nitrate. In the plant, they are in the form of protein and nucleic acids. In turn, animals eat these plants who break them down.
When animals produce waste or die, this waste decays and bacteria consumes this dead organic matter. As a result, the nitrogen in this waste is in the form of ammonium (NH4+).
This is a key process in the nutrient cycle that constantly exchanges inorganic and organic matter back and forth in an environment.
3 Nitrification
However, it’s difficult for plants to use ammonium. So this waste (ammonium) is again broken down by bacteria through a process called “nitrification”.
Nitrification takes the ammonium and transforms it into nitrates in the soil. And again, plants can absorb nitrate and moves through the food chain.
If you deplete the soil from nitrogen, this deprives the plants from growing. Because bacteria convert dead plant material to nitrates, plants absorb it as food.
4 Denitrifying bacteria
But we need nitrogen back in the atmosphere, so we use another type of bacteria. There is a whole different process that does this.
Through the denitrification process, nitrates are converted nitrogen gas again. So it leaves the soil to go back into the atmosphere.
Overall, denitrification turns nitrates (NO3) in the soil to nitrogen (N2) which is returned to the air.
Heya mate!..
The nitrogen cycles four main process in brief are..
1.Nitrogen fixation: Conversion of nitrogen gas into biologically available inorganic nitrogen such as ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites is called nitrogen fixation..
2. Nitrification: Ammonia which is fixed by bacteria or produced by decomposition of dead plants and animals which is converted into nitrates or nitrites by certain type of bacteria..
3. Nitrogen assimilation: The nitrates present in the soil are absorbed by the plant body..
4. Ammonification: After a plant or an animal dies, microorganisms and other soil organism act on its body.
5. Denitrification: Some of the nitrates present in the soil are absorbed by the plant..
Hope this helps..
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