Starting at lightning strikes, list the steps of the nitrogen cycle
- Lightning strike
- Nitrogen fixing bacteria
- nitrifying bacteria
- Assimilation OR denitrification
Starting at assimilation, list the steps of the nitrogen cycle
- Assimilation
- Ammonification of plants/animals
- nitrification
- assimilation or denitrification
starting at nitrogen fixation, list the steps of the nitrogen cycle
- Nitrogen fixation
- Nitrogen fixing bacteria
- nitrifying bacteria / nitrificiation
- Assimilation OR denitrification
What does nitrogen fixing bacteria do?
Takes N2 and fixes it into NH3
What does nitrifying bacteria do?
Takes NH3 -> NO2 -> NO3
What does denitrification bacteria do?
Takes NO3 -> N2
What does assimilation do?
Plants taking NO3 from soil and incorporating it into their tissues
What does ammonification do?
Waste/dead organic matter from plants/animals into NH4
Where is nitrogen mainly found?
In the atmosphere as N2 gas
What do you need to know about nitrogen-fixation?
It is incredibly complex and must happen in the absence of Oxygen.
How is the phosphorus cycle a cycle?
ONLY on geological time - it happens over hundreds of thousands of years
Where does the phosphorus cycle begin?
Uphill, then ends downhill
How does phosphorus cycle?
Through weathering and rock breakdown
