Chapter 2

Cycles of Matter

Chemicals are recycled

between organic matter
and abiotic reservoirs.
The sun (or in chemosynthetic systems, the
Earths interior) supplies closed systems
(like ecosystems) with energy,
But there are no extraterrestrial sources of
water or the other chemical nutrients
essential to life on the planet. If there are
no new sources for matter, why dont we
run out?

Life, therefore, depends on the

recycling of chemicals.

Chemicals pass back

and forth between
biotic (organic matter)
and the abiotic (nonliving) components of
ecosystems.
The routes that these
chemicals take through
the biotic and abiotic
components of the
biosphere are known as
Biogeochemical Cycles.

At all steps in a
biogeochemical cycle,
substances are temporarily
stored in nutrient reservoirs
A nutrient reservoir can be an
organism, soil, water, the air, rocks or
fossil fuels. Anywhere beneficial
chemicals are stored for a length of
time.

Eg) plants take carbon from the air and build

chemicals such as cellulose and starch where the
carbon is stored until the plant is decomposed or
eaten.

Rapid Cycling

In the example of a plant, the carbon

can be stored in the plant for a short
period of time (a plant that dies
quickly or is eaten) this is called
Rapid
rapid cycling of nutrients.
cycling

Slow Cycling
Or the carbon can be
stored for long periods
an ancient cedar may live for
hundreds of years, or
plants can become fossil
fuels where the carbon can
be stored in the ground for
millions of years.

When nutrients stay in

nutrient reservoirs and
are unavailable to
organisms for long
periods of time, we call
this slow cycling of
matter

The
nutrient
becomes
unavailabl
e for a
long
period of

Water moves through the biosphere in a

global cycle carrying with it essential
nutrients. Water is vital to all life and
is a unique substance that has several
unique properties.
Fact: Water is made through cellular
respiration
Fact: Water makes up 70% of human tissue
Fact: Humans should consume 2 Liters of
Water a day
Fact: 97% of water on earth is contained in
oceans and is undrinkable
Fact: A person can only survive about 3
days without water.

Water

Water is a polar molecule. One end

of a water molecule is slightly
positive (hydrogen end), the other is
slightly negative (oxygen end).
negative

positiv
e

Hydrogen Bonding
Because of the opposite charges,
water molecules have an attraction
for one another that cause a weak
type of bonding between water
molecules called hydrogen bonding.

These attractive forces give

water the following
properties:
A)

It is the universal solvent. Because

water is polar, it can dissolve some
molecular and some ionic compounds.
This means the needed chemical
compounds required by living cells are
absorbed through diffusion from water.
Eg) oxygen, carbon dioxide and electrolytes in blood.

These attractive forces give

water the following
properties:
B)

Water has relatively high boiling and

freezing points. This means that water
can exist in all three states in the
biosphere, and can remain as a liquid
over a fairly large temperature range (0
C to 100 C) which allows transport to
happen over a great temperature range
as well.

These attractive forces give

water the following
properties:

C) Liquid water is more dense than

solid water.
When water freezes it expands. This
causes it to be less dense and actually
float on liquid water. Water is at its most
dense when it is at 4 degrees Celsius.
This allows for aquatic ecosystems to exist
in cold climates and allows for the
replenishing of nutrients in lakes during
spring and fall Turnover

Lake Turnover

These attractive forces give

water the following
properties:
D) Hydrogen Bonding
causes Cohesion and Adhesion.

Cohesion- the attraction

of one water molecule
to another. This creates
surface tension.
Adhesion- the attraction
of water molecules to
other molecules.
Eg. Water will move against
gravity by clinging to the walls
of xylem cells, flowing from the
roots to the leaves.
Caused by adhesion the

water runs along the glass

and does not fall straight.

These attractive forces give

water the following
properties:
E) Water stores a tremendous amount of heat
E) Water stores a tremendous amount of heat
energy (High heat capacity)-

Because of the hydrogen bonding of water molecules,

its hard to get them to move away from one another.
You need a tremendous amount of energy to make
the water molecules gain kinetic energy. Because of
this, water can absorb, and hold large amounts of
energy without changing temperature a great deal.
Eg) On a hot day, the sandy beach heats up much more and much faster
than the ocean its next to.

Water moderates the temperature of the land around it

by absorbing heat when its hot out, and releasing
that heat when its cooler outside.

There is a limited amount of water

in the biosphere, so water must
cycle. Two major functions
performed by the water cycle:

1. Distribution: water is distributed by

weather patterns and other processes to all
parts of the biosphere. As water is
distributed throughout the biosphere,
energy (heat) and other nutrients dissolved
in the water are also redistributed.

2. Cleaning: evaporation cleans the water

by the process of distillation.

The global water cycle is

driven by heat from the
sun.

Three major process driven by solar heat

These processes continuously move water

between the land, oceans, and the
atmosphere.

The Hydrological Cycle

Water moves through the biosphere by the
hydrological cycle

Plants and
Water
offalso
of the
animals
play
surface
a role inwill
evaporate
after
returning water
absorbing
energy
into
thereaches
cycle
Water
Some
water
from
the cellular
sun
through
the
enters
earth
the
asand
soil
eventually
respiration,
precipitation
to form ground
condense
to form
decay
and
and
water
can
which
water
transpirationremain
maydroplets
eventually
on thethe
suspended
in
loss
of water
surface
seep
toasthe
clouds.
When
through
plantthe
standing
surface,
temperature
leaves
water
forming
(lakes)
springs
drops,
clouds
will
ororform
entering
rivers
release
which
lakes the water
aseventually
precipitation,
allowing
lead to the
cycle
to
oceans.
continue.

The Carbon and Oxygen

Cycle

Carbon is the key element of living

things. Organic carbon is stored in
the bodies of living organisms.

Rapid Cycling of Carbon: Plants

take in carbon dioxide from the air
and during photosynthesis they
convert the carbon into usable plant
products (starch, cellulose, sugar).
During the process of
cellular respiration, those
carbon products are used
up for energy and growth
and carbon is returned
back into the atmosphere
as carbon dioxide. This is
where oxygen comes into
play. Oxygen is used in
cellular respiration and
combines with carbon to
form carbon dioxide gas,
which returns carbon to

When organisms die,

decomposition returns the
carbon stored in tissues
back into the cycle in an
inorganic form.
Rotting
wood
releases
carbon

Every fall plants

release carbon
in the form of
discarded
leaves

Decaying carcass
releases carbon
into the air and

Slow Cycling of Carbon: A

majority of inorganic carbon is
stored in the ocean as dissolved
carbon dioxide, in the earths crust
as sedimentary rock or in the
atmosphere.
Limestone (calcium
carbonate) stores
billions of tons of
carbon
About 48% of
the carbon
dioxide that is
generated is
absorbed by the
oceans

When phytoplankton
photosynthesis, they store
carbon like any other plant.

When

these
organisms die, they
fall to the bottom of
the ocean and the
carbon contained in
their tissues becomes
part of the ocean
sediment where it can
get trapped for
millions of years as
limestone or fossil
fuels and only get
released when the
rock weathers or the
fossil fuels are

Massive Algae
bloom of the coast
of Africa

Carbon can also be stored in large

trees and is only released when
the tree dies or is burned. These
are examples of carbon sinks.

Worlds
largest tree
is 275 feet
tall

Carbon is
released
when they
burn
(combustion
)
By comparison,
this tree is 154
feet

Carbon dioxide contributes to the greenhouse

effect which leads to global climate change. By
burning forests and fossil fuels, humans have
released much of the carbon that would be held
in carbon sinks and otherwise slowly released.
The excess carbon has been linked to global
warming.

The Carbon Cycle

The Sulfur Cycle

Element
al sulfur

Sulfur is used by living things in the

production of proteins, amino acids
and vitamins.
It is also used by some bacteria in
chemosynthesis.
Plants need
Deep
sulfur in the form
ocean
vent
of sulfate for
proper growth.

Rapid cycling of sulfur

Sulfates from the atmosphere are

deposited in the soil where bacteria
change the sulfates to various forms
that are usable by different organisms.
Plants will take up the various sulfur
compounds and incorporate them into
their tissues. When plants die,
decomposing bacteria release the
sulfur back into the atmosphere.

Sometimes sulfur is
changed to inorganic forms
which get stored in rock
sediments (gypsum) and
fossil fuel reserves (coal
and sour gas).
This sulfur may be trapped
for years, until it is released
by weathering, hot springs,
volcanic activity or the
burning of fossil fuels.
Sulfur is released in the
form of sulfur dioxide gas,
which reacts with water in
the atmosphere to form
sulfurous acid (H2SO3).

Hotsprings

Volcanic
Activity
Sulfur scrubbing

The Sulphur Cycle

Acid Deposition

Acid Deposition- When rain, snow or

sleet becomes acidified. When this
acidified precipitation falls to earth,
this can result in the changing of the
pH of soil and aquatic ecosystems.
This can have a severe impact on the
organisms in these ecosystems. The
burning of fossil fuels such as coal and
sour gas, speed up acid deposition.

Effects of Acid rain

The Nitrogen Cycle

Life depends on the cycling of

nitrogen. Nitrogen is necessary to
make proteins and DNA.
Although atmospheric nitrogen is
abundant, N2 gas is useless to living
organisms. Nitrogen gas must be
converted into a nitrate ion before
being used by plants.

Nitrogen fixation: converts

atmospheric nitrogen into nitrate
Farmers take
advantage
of these
ions
by:

bacteria
by
incorporating
oneof
ofwith
Lightning
Bacteria
: causes
located
nitrogen
in thegas
nodules
to react
crops peas,
into their
cropnitrates. These
oxygen
legumes
inthese
the(clover,
atmosphere
to
soybeans,
form
rotation.
ensures
there
is move
nitrates
alfalfa)
dissolve
also convert
inThis
water,
nitrogen
enterthat
the
intosoil
and
aions.
constant
supply
of
in
intonitrate
plants.
Plants
Thethen
plant
use
produces
thenitrogen
nitrates
more
to make
the
soil.
DNA
nitrate
and amino
than
needed
acids. The
andplants
releases
arethe
then
consumed
excess into
by animals
soil.
which then use these amino
acids to make the proteins they need.

Ammonification:

Decomposers break down nitrogen

containing chemicals in waste and dead
organisms into ammonia in the presence of
oxygen.

Ammonia can then be converted into

nitrites and then nitrates by nitrogen fixing
bacteria.
WASTE AMMONIA NITRITE NITRATE ABSORBED BY PLANTS

Denitrification

Denitrification: is essentially the

opposite of nitrification. When no
oxygen is present, bacteria can
convert nitrates that are not used
into atmospheric nitrogen.
EXCESS NITRATES NITROGEN GAS

The Nitrogen Cycle

The Phosphorus Cycle

Phosphorus is a key element in cell

membranes, energy storage
molecules (ATP) and in mammalian
bone as calcium phosphate.

Adenosine
Triphosphat
e

Make up
cell
membranes

The phosphorus cycle has

two ways to be cycled:
1. Slow Cycle : Involves the Earths crust
Phosphate ions in bedrock are soluble in water and
therefore can be dissolved out of rock, absorbed
by plants and enter the food chain.
Phosphates eroded from rock can also by carried
from land to oceans, where they are absorbed
by algae and again enter the food chain.
Marine animals can also use the phosphate to
create bone and shell. When these organisms
die, the remains are deposited on the ocean
floor, returning the phosphorus and completing
the marine cycle.

The phosphorus cycle has

two ways to be cycled:
2. Fast Cycle: Involves living organisms
Wastes from living organisms (bone,
teeth, cell membranes etc.) containing
phosphorus are broken down by
decomposers. This releases the
phosphates into the soil to be taken in
by plants and the cycle begins again..

Nitrogen and phosphorous are both

essential plant nutrients, and in nature
serve as limiting factors for plant
growth.
Humans have impacted the Nitrogen and
Phosphorous cycles by adding these
nutrients to ecosystems through the
overuse of synthetic fertilizers, large
cattle operations which deliver ton of
nitrogenous wastes via urine and
through the use of phosphate containing
chemicals like detergent and soaps.

Phosphate
containing
detergent

Phosphate
and Nitrogen
rich cattle
waste will run
off into
stream or lake

Algae Blooms
These nutrients leech into nearby
water bodies and promote the
uncontrolled growth of aquatic
plants and algae. Algal blooms are
dangerous to aquatic ecosystems
because when the ecosystem uses up
all the nutrients, the algae that has
grown dies.

Decomposers use up
oxygen as they
decompose the dead
plant material, and in
essence, use up all the
oxygen in the water body.
This leads to the death of
aquatic animals such as
fish and insects.