Biogeochemical Cycles Cycling of materials between the environment

Biogeochemical Cycles • Cycling of materials between the environment and organisms • Chemical and biological processes • Examples – Water cycle – Nitrogen cycle – Phosphorus cycle – Carbon cycle

Water Cycle • Life depends on water • Water is continually cycled through the environment through – Precipitation – Evaporation – Transpiration – Condensation – Percolation

Circle of Life Father: Everything you see exists together, in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures-- from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. Son: But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope? Father: Yes, Son, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass. And the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

Tracing Matter (GRANJOHN Worksheet) Grandma Johnson Environmental Literacy Research Group ? Describe the path of a carbon atom from Grandma Johnson’s remains, to inside the leg muscle of a coyote. NOTE: The coyote does not dig up and consume any part of Grandma Johnson’s remains.

Carbon Cycle • All living organisms are made up of carbon molecules • Autotrophs use energy from the sun to convert CO 2 (carbon dioxide)and water to C 6 H 12 O 6 (glucose)and oxygen • Autotrophs use these molecules for energy and growth • Heterotrophs also use these molecules for energy and growth

Name three ways that Carbon is returned to the atmosphere.

Name the process by which plants take Carbon out of the atmosphere.

What activity in the diagram represents a type of pollution?

What is the term for Carbon stored long term that can only be released by combustion?

What process moves CO 2 from the atmosphere to the ocean?

What process in aquatic and terrestrial environments moves carbon into a state where it will be stored for millions of years?

Which process puts carbon into the 1 st trophic level of a food chain?

Carbon Cycle • Carbon returns to the atmosphere through – Respiration – Decay – Pollution Carbon Cycle Game

Inputs and Outputs – Tracing Carbon Grandma Johnson C 6 H 12 O 6 Decomposers CO 2 Creosote Bush C 6 H 12 O 6 Destruction of organic carbon - Cellular Respiration Rabbit Generation of organic carbon - Photosynthesis C 6 H 12 O 6 Coyote Transfer of organic carbon - Food Chain

The Long Term Carbon Cycle • Fossil Fuels – Made up of carbon compounds from the bodies of organisms that died millions of years ago. – Examples include: • Coal • Oil • Natural Gas

Excessive Carbon Dioxide • The industrial revolution has increased atmospheric CO 2 • CO 2 is a greenhouse gas • Increased CO 2 leads to over-insulation of the Earth’s atmosphere and is one contributor to climate change.

The Long Term Carbon Cycle Carbon gets converted to carbonates, which make up the hard parts of bones and shells. Carbonate deposits form huge formations of limestone rocks.

Limestone typically forms in warm, shallow marine waters

Nitrogen Cycle • Earth’s atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen • Proteins, DNA, and RNA contain nitrogen • It is an essential element of life • Nitrogen CAN’T be used in it’s atmospheric form

Nitrogen Cycle • Atmospheric nitrogen is in a form that is not useable by living organisms • Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen to a useable form (nitrogen fixation)

Nodules on the roots of plants called legumes (peas, beans, and clover) or in soil house the bacteria. Plants obtain nitrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria and pass it to other organisms through the food chain.

Nitrogen returns to the soil through animal waste and decay

Bacteria also works on nitrogen in the soil to release it back to the atmosphere (denitrification)

Lightning fixes nitrogen

What is Phosphorus • • Needed to form bones and teeth Obtained by plants from soil and water Obtained by animals from plants Rarely occurs as a gas The Phosphorus Cycle The movement of phosphorous from the environment to organisms and back again.

Phosphorous Cycle • Enters water and soil by: – Rock erosion – dissolves as phosphate in soil and water – Plants absorb phosphate through roots – Excretion, death, and decomposition – Washes into the ocean, sinks, and accumulates as sediment.

Phosphorous Cycle Short Term Soil Long Term Sedimentation of rocks Prod ucers Consu mers Wastes / Composition Precipitation & Weathering of rocks Where do you think the long and short term might cross over?

“In Nature, there are neither rewards or punishments– there are consequences. ” ----R. G. Ingersoll

What are some of the negative consequences of humans effecting the carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Cycles? • Global climate change • Destruction of ecological systems • Algal blooms • • Fish kills Acid rain Soil erosion Degradation of coral reefs

What are the benefits of the human activities that affect these cycles? Why do we continue to impact the cycles despite the negatives? • More fertilizers and powerful machinery means more food production and more profit for producers and cheaper prices for consumers. • Affordable fuel prices (compared to many countries) allow us to use multiple vehicles in our families and travel easily from place to place. • Find more examples of how we effect nature’s cycles for point passes!! Write a short paragraph about the positive and negative consequences.