Biogeochemical cycles

Biogeochemical cycles: Bio-living things; geo-rocks and soil; chemicalprocesses involved.

All nutrients (or elements) flow through from the nonliving to the living and back to the nonliving components of the ecosystem in a cyclic path

Two major types of biogeochemical cycles

All nutrients follow biogeochemical cycles Two types of cycle

Gaseous

Major reservoirs are atmosphere and oceans Global in nature, important gases
Oxygen 21% Nitrogen 78% Carbon of carbon dioxide 0.03%

Sedimentary

Major reservoirs are soil, rocks and minerals Rock phase and salt solution phase Salt solution is the available form
Phosphorus Metals, eg Calcium, Magnesium, etc

Some cycles are hybrid

Sulfur (S) Major pools in Earths crust and atmosphere

Two major types of biogeochemical cycles

Common features:

Share three basic components:

inputs, internal cycling outputs.

Involve biological and non-biological processes Driven by the flow of energy through ecosystem Tied to water cycle (water is the important medium; Without water cycle, biogeochemical cycle would cease).

Inputs and outputs

Nutrients enter the ecosystem via inputs

Gaseous cycle from atmosphere (C,N) Sedimentary from rocks and minerals (P, Ca)

Wetfall and dryfall

Precipitation -- wetfall Airborne particular and arsenal (rainfall on the forest floor is nutrient rich than on the bare soil) -- dayfall

Nutrient in aquatic ecosystem

From surround lands in the form of drainage water, detritus, sediment and precipitation.

Inputs and outputs

There are also outputs to the biogeochemical cycles

Carbon to carbon dioxide, release back to atmosphere Nutrient to gaseous form (denitrification) Loss of organic matter from ecosystem by washout (from terrestrial to aquatic) Herbivores between aquatic and terrestrial

Harvesting may be replaced by fertilization Loss of nutrient (e.g.Leaching) may be balanced by inputs (weathering of rocks and minerals)

Moose (feed on aquatic plants, deposit nutrient in terrestrial ecosystem in the form of feces) Hippopotamus (move organic matter from terrestrial to aquatic)

Internal cycling

Nutrients are recycled within the ecosystem

Internal recycling important within ecosystem Some systems have large amount of short term recycling

Lakes

Other have most stored as biomass

Forests

Long term storage in water systems is in the sediment

System dependent on primary production and decomposition

Without latter, everything will become locked up

A generalized biogeochemical cycle

Note input, internal cycling, and output

Pools and fluxes

Three calcium pools: Plants, dead OM and soil Pool size: 290, 140, 440 kg ha-1 Fluxes (kg ha-1 yr-1) F1: uptake F2: litterfall F3:leaching from plants? F4:net mineralization

Carbon cycle

Tightly linked to energy flow Difference between production and loss

Carbonates

Coal Oil Gas

Coral reefs Limestone

Carbon cycle varies daily and seasonally

High CO2 concentration on the forest floor is caused by microbial respiration.

CO2 high in winter and decline with onset of photosynthesis (May to June, in Alaska)

Global carbon cycle

Carbon budget of Earth is closely linked to atmosphere, land and ocean and mass movement around planet.

Nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen is essential to life Starts with nitrogen fixation from atmosphere Plants can only utilize nitrate or ammonia Atmospheric deposit

Nitrogen fixation High energy (lightning, 0.5 kg N ha-1) Biological Bacteria, 10 kg N ha-1.

Dryfall+wetfall

N fixation: N2 is converted into NH3 (NH4+ when ) by bacteria.

Ammonization: a process that organic N is converted to NH4+

Nitrification: a process that NH4 is oxidized to NO2- and to NO3Denitrification: under anaerobic condition, NO3- is reduced to N2O and N2 and returned to atmosphere.

Global nitrogen cycle

Unit: 10^12 g N yr1

Phosphorus cycle has no atmospheric pool

No atmospheric reservoir (rock and natural phosphate deposits) Permanent loss of phosphorus to oceans Input limited to weathering of rocks Terrestrial systems can be limited by phosphorus availability Phosphorus is more abundant in marine and freshwater systems
Particular Dissolved organic phosphorus

Dissolved inorganic phosphorus

Rapidly utilized by zooplankton Secrete inorganic

Phosphorus can sink as particulate phosphorus and become locked in bottom sediment
Depletion of surface layers

Rapidly utilized by phytoplankton

Global phosphorus cycle

Unit 10^12 g P yr-1

Sulfur cycle is both sedimentary and gaseous (hybrid)

Global sulfur cycle (poorly understood)

Oxygen cycle in largely under biological control

Sources of O2 1. Breakup of water 2. Photosynthesis Now in balance Three pools

Various biogeochemical cycles are linked

All elements are components of living organisms and constituents of organic matter Thus all cycles are linked: Chemically Energetically Biologically Stoichimetry: quantitative relationship of elements in combination. Example: C:N ratio, 8 to 15 for microbes, 30 for leaf, etc C:N:P ratio

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