Name: nutrient recycling in ecosystems
Uploaded: 2019-03-11T09:21:40.000Z
Duration: 54 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

north-carolina-k-12-science-standard-course-of-study

North Carolina K-12 Science Standard Course of Study

9-12

Biology

ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-dynamics

Ecosystems- Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

LS.Bio.4.1

What are Biogeochemical Cycles?

The matter that makes up living organisms is conserved and recycled amongst biotic, living, and abiotic, non-living factors within the environment, a process called biogeochemical cycling.

Four compounds or molecules, water, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur have gaseous forms that are cycled through both the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as well as the atmosphere, making them part of global biogeochemical processes.

However, elements that are too heavy to occur as gasses like phosphorous only circulate through the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a local biogeochemical process.

Both local and global biogeochemical recycling are connected through geological processes, such as the uplift of tectonic plates, weathering and erosion of rock deposits, and water drainage.

what are biogeochemical cycles?

The most common elements in organic molecules, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, are only available in the ecosystem in limited amounts. Therefore, these nutrients must be recycled through both biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem, in processes generally called biogeochemical cycles.

<h4>Biogeochemical Cycles and Decomposition</h4>

The matter that makes up living organisms, like water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorous, exist in limited quantities within the ecosystem and must be conserved and recycled. This matter can take a variety of chemical forms and spend extended periods of time in the atmosphere, on or underneath the land, and in aquatic environments. A key component in the breakdown and recycling of nutrients in the ecosystem is decomposition, which is influenced by temperature, moisture, and nutrient availability. For example, organic material is decomposed much faster in rainforests compared to temperate environments, which have lower temperatures and more seasonal climates.

<h4>Human Activity</h4>

Human activities can also play a major role in altering the balance of biogeochemical cycles. For example, in 2011, Lake Erie experienced the largest harmful algal bloom in its recorded history. This was a result of the agricultural addition of phosphorus over many years, coupled with changes in local weather patterns. The excessive nutrient levels&ndash;&ndash;called eutrophication&ndash;&ndash;promoted the growth of two toxic cyanobacteria species, Microcystis and Anabaena.

The most common elements in organic molecules, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, are only available in the ecosystem in limited ...

Education

JoVE Core

Ecology

Ecosystems

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

nutrient recycling in ecosystems

Nutrient recycling in ecosystems keeps the elements needed for life moving through living and nonliving parts of the environment. Elements such as water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus are present in limited amounts, so they must be conserved and reused. These movements are called biogeochemical cycles.

These nutrients can exist in several chemical forms. They may spend long periods in the atmosphere, on land, under the land, or in aquatic environments. Decomposition is a key part of this recycling process. It breaks down organic material and returns nutrients to the ecosystem.

Decomposition depends on temperature, moisture, and nutrient availability. In warm, wet places, organic matter usually breaks down faster. For example, rainforest material decomposes more quickly than material in temperate environments, which are cooler and more seasonal.

Human activity can also disrupt these cycles. In Lake Erie, years of phosphorus added through agriculture, along with changes in local weather patterns, helped create the largest harmful algal bloom in the lake’s recorded history in 2011. This nutrient buildup, called eutrophication, supported the growth of toxic cyanobacteria such as Microcystis and Anabaena.

Nutrient Recycling in Ecosystems

what is an ecosystem?

Ecosystem Zones and Climate

Ecosystems are shaped by living and nonliving parts of an environment, and they can be grouped as terrestrial or aquatic. Terrestrial ecosystems depend on climate. Aquatic ecosystems are divided into freshwater and marine systems, and depth affects water temperature and how much sunlight reaches the water. Terrestrial ecosystems are called biomes. A biome is defined by climate and by the organisms that live there. Near the equator, rainforests have high, aseasonal temperatures and high annual...

trophic levels

Food Chains and Energy Flow

Food chains show how energy and nutrients move through an ecosystem. Each organism holds a trophic level, or a specific place in that chain. The lowest level includes primary producers, which make their own food using energy from the sun or from chemicals. Organisms at the next levels are heterotrophs, which get energy from other organisms below them. Primary consumers are herbivores, and they feed on autotrophs, also called primary producers. Secondary and tertiary consumers are carnivores...

primary production

GPP, NPP, and Ecosystem Energy

Gross primary production and net primary production describe how energy enters and moves through ecosystems. Primary producers, or autotrophs, make their own food. They can do this by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, and they can also gain energy by consuming other organisms. The rate at which producers capture and store this energy is called gross primary production, or GPP. Not all of the energy in GPP stays available to the rest of the ecosystem. Primary producers use some energy for...

production efficiency

Energy Transfer as Biomass Efficiency

Net production efficiency shows how much energy organisms turn into biomass for the next trophic level. It focuses on the usable energy stored in body tissue, not the energy lost as heat or excreted wastes. This makes it a key idea for understanding energy flow through ecosystems. As energy moves from one organism to the next, only biomass can serve as food for the next trophic level. The rest of the energy is used in metabolism and is lost over time. Net production efficiency, or NPE, is the...

trophic efficiency

Energy Loss in Food Chains

Trophic level transfer efficiency describes how much energy moves from one level of a food chain to the next. It shows why energy drops sharply as organisms eat and are eaten. In most ecosystems, only about 10% of the energy passes on. This energy loss follows the second law of thermodynamics. In living systems, much of the energy is lost as metabolic heat during respiration. Trophic level transfer efficiency, or TLTE, measures this transfer by comparing the energy produced at one trophic...

Nutrient recycling in ecosystems keeps the elements needed for life moving through living and nonliving parts of the environment. Elements such as water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus are present in limited amounts, so they must be conserved and reused. These movements are called biogeochemical cycles. These nutrients can exist in several chemical forms. They may spend long periods in the atmosphere, on land, under the land, or in aquatic environments. Decomposition is a key part of...

the water cycle

Water Movement Through Earth Systems

Water movement through Earth systems connects the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the land, and living things. The hydrosphere includes every place where water is stored or moves. Because water supports living processes, its movement is important for ecosystem dynamics. The cycle starts when the sun warms surface water on land and in the oceans. That water evaporates and enters the atmosphere as vapor. Water can also move into the air by sublimation, which is ice changing directly into vapor, and...

the carbon cycle

Carbon Movement in Living Systems

Carbon moves through living systems and Earth over short and long time scales. It is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and it cycles through ecosystems by passing between organisms and by moving through rocks, oceans, and the atmosphere. Human activities, including farming and burning fossil fuels, have changed this balance. In the biological carbon cycle, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reacts with water to form bicarbonate. Primary producers, or autotrophs, use carbon dioxide and...

the nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen in Soil and Living Things

Nitrogen in soil and living things moves through ecosystems in several forms. Nitrogen atoms are found in proteins and DNA. Most animals and plants cannot use nitrogen gas, which is the main form of nitrogen on Earth. Nitrogen must first be changed into a usable form by nitrogen-fixing bacteria before it can move through food webs. About 78% of the air we breathe is nitrogen gas, but few organisms can use it in that form. Nitrogen fixation changes nitrogen gas (N2) into ammonia (NH3).

the phosphorus cycle

Phosphorus Movement in Soil and Water

Phosphorus moves through ecosystems mostly as phosphate ions in soil, water, sediment, and rocks. Unlike carbon, water, and nitrogen, it is not found in the atmosphere as a gas. It is also often a limiting nutrient, which means it is in short supply in many environments. Phosphorus is important in DNA, cell membranes, bones, and teeth. It is found in minerals, sediment, volcanic ash, and aerosols. As rocks and sediment weather over time, they release inorganic phosphate. That phosphate then...

the sulfur cycle

Sulfur in Ecosystems and Acid Rain

Sulfur moves through ecosystems as part of the chemical cycle that supports life. It is an important element in proteins and in amino acids such as cysteine, which helps give proteins their structure. On land, sulfur reaches ecosystems in several ways. Weak sulfuric acid can fall with precipitation, sulfur can drop directly from the atmosphere, rocks can weather and release sulfur, and geothermal vents can add it as well. Plants and microorganisms take sulfur up from the soil and change it...

bioremediation

Bioremediation in Soil and Oil Cleanup

Bioremediation uses prokaryotes, fungi, or plants to remove pollutants from the environment. It is a practical way to reduce harmful chemicals in contaminated soil and water. In agriculture, fertilizers and pesticides can leach into groundwater, streams, and lakes. Microbes and bacteria can help break down these toxins. One example is atrazine, an environmental toxin found in many fertilizers, which can be removed from soils by the bacterial species Rhizobium and Tricoderma sp. Bioremediation...

key terms and concepts

Learn how nutrients move through ecosystems, how decomposition returns matter to the environment, and how human activity can upset biogeochemical cycles.

Nutrient Recycling in Ecosystems | JoVE K12

JoVE Core series brings biology to life through over 300 concise and easy-to-understand animated video lessons that explain key concepts in biology, plus more than 150 scientist-in-action videos that show actual research experiments conducted in today’s laboratories.

biology

LS.Bio.4.2

Earth and Environmental Science

Earth's Systems

ESS.EES.2.4

ESS.EES.3.3

ESS.EES.3.4

ESS.EES.4.1

ESS.EES.4.2

Pennsylvania State Academic Standards

Earth and Space Science

3.3.9-12.L

3.3.9-12.N

Human Sustainability

3.3.9-12.M

Life Science

matter-and-energy-in-organisms-and-ecosystems

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

3.1.9-12.H

3.1.9-12.K

Louisiana Student Standards for Science

High School

Earth Science

Earth’s Systems

HS-ESS2-1

HS-ESS2-4

HS-ESS2-6

HS-ESS2-7

Life Sciences

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy And Dynamics

HS-LS2-4

Environmental Science

ohios-learning-standards-and-model-curriculum

Ohio’s Learning Standards and Model Curriculum

Diversity And Interdependence Of Life

Biodiversity

Physical Geology

Plate Tectonics

Structure of Earth

Plate motion

Earth's Resources

Soil and sediment

Tennessee Academic Standards

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

BIO1.LS2.2

BIO1.LS2.3

Virginia  Standards of Learning

HIgh School

BIO.8

BIO.8.b

ES.6

ES.6.a

ES.8

ES.8.a

ES.8.b

ES.8.c

ES.11

ES.11.b

LS.5

LS.5.a

Minnesota Academic Standards in Science

2.2.1 9E.2.2.1.2

9L.2.2.1.1

3.2.1 9L.3.2.1.3

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

Earth Systems Science

112.49.c.11

112.49.c.11.A.

112.49.c.12.

112.49.c.12.E.

112.49.c.12.F.

new-jersey-student-learning-standards-for-science

New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science

HS-LS2-3

Arizona Science Standards

HS+B.L2

HS+B.L2U1.3

HS.L2

HS.L2U1.21

Alabama Course of Study Science

Ecosystems: Interactions Energy and Dynamics

9-12.B.2.7

9-12.EVS.1.2

Earth and Human Activity

9-12.EVS.4.9

Next Generation Science Standards

HS-LS2-5

HS-ESS2-2

HS-ESS3-1

Florida Department of Education

SC.912.E.7

SC.912.E.7.1

SC.912.E.7.3

SC.912.L.17

SC.912.L.17.2

SC.912.L.17.10

BIO.13

BIO.13.C

Georgia Standards of Excellence

Botany

SBO5.

All Standards

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South Carolina College and Career Ready Science Standards

B-LS2-5.

Earth and Space Science (ESS)

E-ESS2-3.

E-ESS2-7.

SEV1.

SEV1.c

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New York State Science Learning Standards

HS-LS2-3.

HS-LS2-4.

HS-LS2-5.

Earth and Space Sciences

HS-ESS2-6.

Entomology

SEN1.

SEN1.d

Oceanography

SO6.

SO6.2

SEC4.

SEC4.a

SB5.b

myJoVE Corporation

The Water Cycle

The Earth&rsquo;s hydrosphere includes all of the areas where the storage and movement of water occurs. Since water is the basis of all living processes, ...

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among ...

The Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen atoms, present in all proteins and DNA, are recycled between abiotic and biotic components of the ecosystem. However, the primary form of ...

The Phosphorus Cycle

Unlike carbon, water, and nitrogen, phosphorus is not present in the atmosphere as a gas. Instead, most phosphorus in the ecosystem exists as compounds, ...

The Sulfur Cycle

Sulfur, an important element in the chemical makeup of proteins, is recycled through the atmosphere and aquatic and terrestrial environments. Found in the ...

Use models to illustrate how processes in organisms contribute to the flow of energy and the cycling of matter within an ecosystem.

What are Populations and Communities?

Populations are groups of individuals of the same species that inhabit a shared environment. Communities include multiple co-existing, interacting ...

Use models to explain the relationship between the flow of energy and cycling of matter among organisms in an ecosystem.

Analyze the relationships between matter and energy within ecosystems.

Nutrient Recycling in Ecosystems

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