See biogeochemical cycle.
The repeated pathway of particular nutrients or elements from the environment through one or more organisms back to the environment. Nutrient cycles include the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorus cycle, and so on.
The circulation of chemical elements and compounds, such as carbon and nitrogen, in specific pathways from the non-living parts of ecosystems into the organic substances of the living parts of ecosystems, and then back again to the non-living parts of the ecosystem. For instance, nitrogen in wood is returned to the soil as the dead tree decays; the nitrogen again becomes available to living organisms in the soil, and upon their death, the nitrogen is available to plants growing in that soil. It is the interruption of the nutrient cycle that makes the slash and burn deforestation practices incompatible to sustainable forestry.
The passage of a nutrient or element through an ecosystem, including its assimilation and release by various organisms and its transformation into various organic or inorganic chemical forms.
Plants grow in nutrient rich soil and absorb the nutrients. We eat the plants and take in the nutrients. Through composting and decomposition, the soil gets the nutrients back, and the cycle starts again.
The process by which nutrients move form one stage of the life cycle to the next.
The process of use, release and reuse of elements by plants and animals through uptake by incorporation into and decomposition of organisms. Elements involved in nutrient cycling remain in the vicinity of the earth's surface.
pathway of an element or nutrient through the ecosystem from assimilation by organisms to release by decomposition
Producers (green plants) use the sun's energy to manufacture their own food from abiotic (non living) elements in a process called photosynthesis. These green plants provide food and oxygen for other living things (consumers). Some consumers (herbivores) eat producers while some (carnivores) eat other consumers. Decomposers break down dead plant and animal materials into abiotic elements. Decomposers are recyclers; the abiotic elements return to the soil, water, and air for use again. This is how nutrients are cycled and recycled.
the movement of different nutrients in different chemical forms within an ecosystem
The sequence of biochemical changes undergone by an essential plant nutrient where it is taken up by plant roots or soil microbes, used by a series of living organisms, and transformed to its original state upon the death and decomposition of the organism (at which time the cycle can start again). Chemical and physical changes (such as ammonia volatilization) are also parts of some nutrient cycles.
Chemical transformation of nitrogen, phosphorus and silica compounds in continuous cycles of organic and inorganic phases in an ecosystem.
