The biosphere and nutrient cycles

By Encyclopaedia Britannica, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.09.18

Word Count 1,025
Level 1180L

Image 1. Workers collect bird poop, known as guano, on Asia Island in Peru, June 20, 2008. Guano is used to make some of the
world's finest organic fertilizers. Animal waste plays an important role in biogeochemical cycles, like the nitrogen and phosphorus
cycles. Photo by: AP Photo/Martin Mejia

The biosphere is the thin life-supporting area of Earth’s surface, extending from a few miles into
the atmosphere to deep under the ocean. A global ecosystem, the biosphere is composed of
biota, or living organisms, and abiotic, or nonliving matter. Living creatures harness energy and
nutrients from nonliving elements.

The biosphere is a system characterized by the continuous cycling of matter, accompanied by the
flow of solar energy. As matter moves through the biosphere, different elements combine to form
the building blocks of life and fuel for living creatures.

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What Are Nutrient Cycles?

All cells are made up primarily of six elements. These elements — hydrogen, oxygen, carbon,
nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur — occur in similar proportions in all living things. While the first
four elements make up 99 percent of most cells, additional ones are also important. Calcium
forms support structures such as shells, skeletons and cell walls, while chlorophyll allows plants
to convert light into chemical energy.

Certain elements are found in higher concentrations in living organisms than in the environment
because organisms capture these nutrients to combine them in various ways. Nutrients alternate
between inorganic and organic states as they move through the cycles of the biosphere. The
biosphere is composed of three parts: the atmosphere, made up of gases, including water vapor;
the lithosphere, encompassing the soil and crust of the Earth; and the hydrosphere, including
lakes, rivers and oceans.

Some elements are bound up in limestone and other rocks, unavailable to living
creatures. Weathering and erosion eventually release these elements. For most major nutrients,
however, living organisms not only intercept them, they actually drive the cycles of these
elements through the biosphere.

The movement of nutrients through the biosphere is different from the transfer of energy. Energy
flows through the biosphere and cannot be reused, but elements can be recycled. For example,
carbon released as carbon dioxide may remain in the atmosphere for five years before being
taken up by another animal, or be used immediately by a nearby plant during photosynthesis.

Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle moves carbon throughout the biosphere. The carbon in living matter comes
from carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air or dissolved in water. Plants use carbon dioxide during
photosynthesis, in which carbon dioxide and water are converted into simple carbohydrates. CO2
is added to the atmosphere by animals and other organisms as a by-product of respiration, and
it's released when bacteria and fungi decompose dead organisms.

Carbon found in dead animals and plants has collected in the Earth’s crust as fossil fuels (such as
coal, oil and gas). Humans now use these fossil fuels for heat and electricity, and in industry and
agriculture, releasing vast amounts of CO2.

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Nitrogen Cycle

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Like carbon, nitrogen also circulates through the biosphere. Unlike carbon, which is stored
primarily in rocks, most nitrogen occurs in the atmosphere as an inorganic gas (N2). Plants,
however, cannot use nitrogen when it is a gas, only when it has been converted into
ammonia (NH3) and nitrates (NO3−). Nitrogen is pulled from the atmosphere by bacteria and
cyanobacteria.

Certain species of bacteria live near plants or fungi, providing them with necessary nitrogen.
These bacteria exist right next to plant roots, making it easy for plants to absorb nitrogen drawn
into the soil by bacteria. When bacteria live around fungi, they form a new species called lichen.

Once nitrogen has been absorbed by plants, it can be changed into organic forms, such as amino
acids and proteins. Animals can use only use organic nitrogen, which they obtain by eating plants
or other animals. When animals die, microbes decompose their bodies and put nitrogen, in the
form of ammonia, back into the soil.

However, some nitrogen does eventually return to the atmosphere when bacteria break down
nitrates, releasing N2 in the process. Nitrogen is also lost through erosion, runoff, and leaching
from soils into lakes and streams.

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The Phosphorus Cycle

Most other major nutrients, such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium, enter
the soil through the weathering of bedrock. Phosphorus most often limits plant growth.

Phosphorus and other nutrients move in one direction, from land to rivers to the sea,
before settling at the bottom of the ocean. However, phosphorus does cycle between the surface
and the ocean floor. Near the surface phosphorus is taken up by plankton, passes through the
food chain, and returns to the ocean floor when organisms die and fall to the bottom.
Phosphorus on the ocean floor is the largest reservoir of phosphorus in the biosphere.

On land, phosphorus moves between living organisms and decomposing matter in the soil in the
form of phosphate (PO43−). Bacteria in the soil breaks down organic matter, releasing
phosphate, which is taken up by plants and released again when they die and decompose. Soils
differ in the amount of phosphorus they contain. In some phosphorus-poor soils, almost all the
available phosphorus exists in living organisms and organic matter. In some tropical forests, living
creatures contain so much phosphorus that clearing the forests eliminates most of this element.
Without phosphorus, plant communities cannot recover and crops cannot grow.

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The addition of phosphorus to soils has impacted the phosphorus cycle in many ecosystems.
Runoff from agricultural fields or sewage lines adds phosphorus to rivers and lakes. The extra
phosphorus makes plants and microorganisms grow explosively, sometimes creating a solid mat
of plants that extends over the surface of the water. The increasing number of plants decreases
the available oxygen, suffocating fish and other animals.

Why Are Nutrient Cycles Important?

Understanding how the biosphere functions is vitally important. When human population levels
were low and technology simple, the impact on the biosphere was relatively small.
Increasing human population levels and harvesting of Earth’s natural resources has altered this
situation, especially in recent decades. Human activities are causing major changes to how
energy and nutrients are moving through ecosystems. These changes are eliminating species
that have not even been described but which might have been of central importance to the
maintenance of ecosystems.

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Quiz

1 Read the paragraph from the section "What Are Nutrient Cycles?"

Certain elements are found in higher concentrations in living organisms

than in the environment because organisms capture these nutrients to
combine them in various ways. Nutrients alternate between inorganic and
organic states as they move through the cycles of the biosphere. The
biosphere is composed of three parts: the atmosphere, made up of
gases, including water vapor; the lithosphere, encompassing the soil and
crust of the Earth; and the hydrosphere, including lakes, rivers and
oceans.

Which phrase from the paragraph helps the reader understand the meaning of "organic" and
"inorganic" states?

(A) elements are found in higher concentrations

(B) in living organisms than in the environment

(C) atmosphere, made up of gases, including water vapor

(D) lithosphere, encompassing the soil and crust of the Earth

2 Read the list of words from the section "Why Are Nutrient Cycles Important?"

vitally
altered
eliminating

How do these words affect the tone of the article's conclusion?

(A) They convey a sense of urgency.

(B) They convey a sense of control.

(C) They convey a sense of optimism.

(D) They convey a sense of moderation.

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3 The image in the section "Nitrogen Cycle" shows ammonia (NH3) at the bottom of the cycle.

Based on the article, what are the two explanations for this detail?

1. Human activities produce excess ammonia which cannot be used

by plants and animals.
2. Most nitrogen occurring in the biosphere remains deep in the Earth
in the form of ammonia.
3. Nitrogen gas must be converted by bacteria in the soil into ammonia
and then nitrates for plants.
4. Microbes decompose dead plants and animals to put nitrogen in the
form of ammonia into the soil.

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 2 and 3

(C) 3 and 4

(D) 1 and 4

4 Examine the image in the section "The Phosphorous Cycle" and read the selections below.

Phosphorus and other nutrients move in one direction, from land to rivers
to the sea, before settling at the bottom of the ocean.
Runoff from agricultural fields or sewage lines adds phosphorus to rivers
and lakes. The extra phosphorus makes plants and microorganisms grow
explosively, sometimes creating a solid mat of plants that extends over
the surface of the water.

Based on the above information, which of the following predictions is MOST reasonable?

(A) The amount of phosphorous present in the soil will soon become too low for
farmers to grow plants and crops.

(B) The levels of phosphorous on the ocean floor will continue to grow, affecting plants
and animals there.

(C) Most phosphorous in the biosphere will soon be found at the top of the ocean
instead of the bottom.

(D) Most phosphorous used on farms will be extracted from sea plants, rather than
from mine extraction.

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