Nitrogen Cycle

Ecological Planning Assignment -1

Macronutrients and cycles

Edaphic ( soil) nutrients: N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S

These are cycled from one form to other
edaphic nutrient cycles
Nitrogen essential component of - amino acids,
as incorporated intoproteins, nucleic acids such
asDNAandRNA, and chlorophyllmolecules.
Nitrogen cycle - nitrogen is converted between
its various chemical forms in the environment.
Component processes: fixation, mineralization,
nitrification and denitrification.

Nitrogen in the environment

organic
nitrogen

78 % of the
atmosphere is
Nitrogen which is

ammoni
um
(NH4+)

inorganic
nitrogen
gas (N2)

useless for most of the

plants.

Nitroge
n

nitric
oxide
(NO)

Nitrite
(NO2-)

Nitrogen in biota and

soils has originated in
the atmosphere and
has accumulated over

nitrous
oxide
(N2O)

millions of years of
Nitrate
(NO3-)

nitrogen fixation.

Nitrogen Fixation

Total Nitrogen Fixation: 10 kg. /Ha. annum

atmospheric fixation : 2% of the global nitrogen
assimilation

7%
33%

60%

agro ecosystems
Forests
Other
ecosystems

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Source: HACH Company, Wikipedia, Ecology and Environment

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1.
.

.
.

Atmospheric Nitrogen:
Biological Fixation:

symbiotic bacteria (most often

associated with leguminous plants)
like Rhizobiumlive in the root
nodules called rhizomes

and some free-living bacteria like

Azotobacter
Lightning: formation of NO from N2and
O2due to photons
Fertilizers

Source: HACH Company

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2.
.

Source: HACH Company, Wikipedia, Ecology and Environment

Ammonificatio
n:
When a plant or
animal dies, or an
animal expels
waste, the initial
form of nitrogen
isorganic.
Bacteria, or fungi
in some cases,
convert the
organic nitrogen
within the
remains back into
ammonium(NH4+)
.

3.
.
.

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Nitrification:
The conversion of ammonium to nitrate is performed
primarily by soil-living bacteria and other nitrifying bacteria.
In the primary stage of nitrification, the oxidation of
ammonium (NH4+) is performed by bacteria such as
theNitrosomonasspecies, which converts ammonia to
nitrites (NO2-).
Other bacterial species, such as theNitrobacter, are
responsible for the oxidation of the nitrites into nitrates
(NO3-).

Source: HACH Company, Wikipedia, Ecology and Environment

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4.
.

.
.

Assimilation:
Plants take nitrogen from the soil, by
absorption through their roots in the
form of either nitrate ions or ammonium
ions.
Plants can absorb nitrate or ammonium
ions from the soil via their root hairs.
If nitrate is absorbed, it is first reduced to
nitrite ions and then ammonium ions for
incorporation into amino acids, nucleic
acids, and chlorophyll.

Source: HACH Company, Wikipedia, Ecology and Environment

Click icon to add picture

4.
.
.

Denitrification:
reduction of nitrates back into the largely inert
nitrogen gas (N2), completing the nitrogen cycle.
This process is performed by facultative
anaerobic bacterial species such
asPseudomonasand Clostridiumin anaerobic
conditions.

Source: HACH Company, Wikipedia, Ecology and Environment

Marine Nitrogen Cycle

Problems due to human intervention

Reasons for problems:

excessive cultivation of legumes
growing use of chemical fertilizers
pollution emitted by vehicles and industrial plants

more than doubled the annual transfer of

nitrogen into biologically-available forms
humans have also significantly contributed to the
transfer of nitrogen trace gases fromEarthto
theatmosphere, and from the land to aquatic
systems.
Nitrous oxide(N2O) has risen in the atmosphere
N2O has harmful effects in the stratosphere - high
Ozone Depleting Potential and has 300 times the
Global Warming Potential of CO2.

Global sources of biologically available (Fixed) nitrogen

ANTHROPOGENIC SOURCES

ANNUAL RELEASE OF FIXED

NITROGEN (teragrams)

Fertilizer

80

Legumes and other plants

40

Fossil fuels

20

Biomass burning

40

Wetland draining

10

Land clearing

20

Total from human sources

210

NATURAL SOURCES

Soil bacteria, algae, lightning, etc.

140

Source: Peter M. Vitouseket al., Human Alteration of the Global Nitrogen Cycle:
Causes and Consequences, Issues in Ecology, No. 1 (1997), pp. 4-6.