REMOVAL OF NITROGEN

AND PHOSPHOROUS

PRESENTED BY:
KARAN SIWASIA
ANKIT TANWAR

:U12CH089
:U12CH084

NITROGEN
Why Nitrogen is important?
Atmosphere
It

is 78% of nitrogen

is an essential element for all organisms

Major

component of amino acids

Fertilizers.
But

plants and animals cant get it directly from the

atmosphere
So,

the cycle begins

REMOVAL PROCESSES
Plant

uptake

Gaseous

loss

Ammonia volatilization
Immobilization
Denitrification

Exchange

Leaching
Runoff

and Errosion

Upward

movement

NITROGEN CYCLE

PLANT UPTAKE

It refers to nitrogen absorption by roots

Once nitrogen is converted into ammonium and
nitrate, these can be taken up from soils by
plants
Then used in the formation of plant and animal
proteins.

GASEOUS LOSS

Ammonia Volatilization

Ammonia volatilization is the loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere as

ammonia gas
Ammonia production and loss is typically associated with urea
hydrolysis in soils.
In urea hydrolysis, the ph of urea is increased drastically and the
proportion of nitrogen in the ammonium form is shifted towards
ammonia
Ammonia is then released into the atmosphere and no longer
available to the plant.
Movement of urea into the soil prior to hydrolysis is an effective
way to minimize ammonia volatilization.

Factors leads to volatilization

Soil

pH

Type

of fertilizer

Soil

Temperature

Soil

Moisture

Buffering
Crop

Capacity:

Residues

Manure

IMMOBILIZATION

Immobilization is process that converts inorganic nitrogen to

organic nitrogen.
It is the reverse reaction of mineralization.
occurs when decomposing organic matter contains low amounts of
nitrogen.
Also occurs if the source of organic matter has a high C:N ratio
Microorganisms which need nitrogen to live, scavenge the soil for
nitrogen when plant residues contain inadequate amounts of
nitrogen.
As inorganic ammonium and nitrate are incorporated into the cells
of living microorganisms, the total N levels in the soil are reduced
When nitrogen is immobilized in the soil, there may be little
nitrogen available for crop growth.
As a result, plants can suffer from nitrogen deficiency and develop
a yellow coloration.

Factors leads to immobilization

Soil

moisture and temperature

C:N

ratio of residue

DENTRIFICATION

It is one source of N loss from the soil.

Is the biological process in which nitrate is converted to
atmospheric N2 mediated by denitrifying m.organisms.
Reduction is accomplished by facultative heterotrophic organisms
Denitrifying bacteria's are thiobacillus, paracoccus,micrococcus
and pseudomonas
Denitrification occurs when oxygen levels are depleted and nitrate
becomes the primary oxygen source for microorganisms
When bacteria break apart nitrate(NO3-) to gain the oxygen (O2),
the nitrate is reduced to nitrous oxide (N2O), and, in turn,
nitrogengas (N2).
Since nitrogen gas has low water solubility, it escapes into the
atmosphere as gas bubbles.
Free nitrogen is the major component of air, thus its release does
not cause any environmental concern

Soil conditions that lead to Denitrification:

Waterlogged

soils

Presence

of nitrate

Presence

of decomposable organic matter

Oxygen
Soil

pH

Soil

Temperature

EXCHANGE
It

refers to cation and anion exchange

Such

as ammonium, are attracted to soil particles that

have a cation exchange capacity.

Ammonium
Losses
Leads

is largely mobile .

of ammonium

to Nitrogen loss

LEACHING
When

soil becomes excessively wet through rainfall, the soil

will reach a point where it cannot hold any more water.
This happens because the air spaces between soil particles
become filled with water
As these air spaces fill, gravity will cause water to move
down through the soil profile.
As water moves down through the soil, nitrogen can be
carried with it.
Nitrate is very mobile and easily leaches with water.
Heavy rains can cause nitrates to leach downward in the soil
below the root zone
Once nitrates get into the groundwater, can be toxic to
newborns, causing anoxia, methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby
disease etc

FACTORS LEADS TO LEACHING

High

rainfall intensity and distribution

Highly

irrigated fields

Coarsely

textured soils

RUNOFF AND ERROSION

Runoff and

erosion losses may include nitrate, ammonium,

and organic nitrogen

when

nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils and rain or

irrigation water is applied, the water dissolves and runsoff the

surface finally these ions move with it.
Soil

erosion moves more nitrogen

When

erosional soils are deposited in rivers and lakes,

microbial activity will slowly convert nitrogen compounds

into soluble forms.

Prevention of Nitrogen Loss

The

best way to prevent losses of nitrogen from

agricultural lands is through good soil and water

management practices
Proper

fertilization and control of surface runoff and

erosion offer the best methods for preventing nitrogen

from getting into streams and lakes

PHOSPHOROUS

WHAT IS PHOSPHOROUS AND

WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT?
Phosphorus

cycle is the movement of phosphorus from the

environment to organisms and then back to the environment.
Phosphorus is mainly found in water, soil, and rock.
Phosphorus is essential for life.
Component of DNA
Building block of our bones and teeth.
Unlike the other cycles, phosphorus cannot be found in air in
the gaseous state
Phosphorus is most commonly found in rock formations and
ocean sediments as phosphate salts
Phosphate salts that are released from rocks through
weathering usually dissolve in soil water and will be absorbed
by plants.

 Animals

absorb phosphates by eating plants or plant-

eating animals.
When

animals and plants die, phosphates will return to

the soils or oceans again during decomposition.

After

that, phosphorus will end up in sediments or rock

formations again, remaining there for millions of years.

Eventually, phosphorus is released again through
weathering and the cycle starts over.

REMOVAL OF
PHOSPHOROUS FROM SOIL

PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE

METHODS
Plant

uptake

Sorption and Desorption

Precipitation

and Dissolution

Mineralization

and Immobilization

Leaching
Runoff and

Erosion

PLANT UPTAKE
Plant

roots absorb phosphorus from the soil solution.

Absorb

phosphorus in the form of orthophosphate, but

can also absorb certain forms of organic phosphorus

Phosphorus
The

moves to the root surface through diffusion.

presence of mycorrhizal fungi, which develop a

symbiotic relationship with plant roots and extend

threadlike hyphae into the soil, can enhance the uptake
of phosphorus in plant

SORPTION AND DESORPTION

Sorption is the chemical binding of plant available P
to soil particles, which makes it unavailable to
plants.
Soils that have higher iron and/or aluminum
contents have the potential to adsorb more P than
other soils.
P-sorption results in a decrease of plant available
phosphorus
Desorption is the release of adsorbed P from its
bound state into the soil solution
Adsorption occurs quickly whereas desorption is
usually a slow process.

Factors that affect P-sorption

Soil

Mineral Type

Amount

of clay

pH
Temperature

PRECIPITATION AND
DISSOLUTION
Phosphorus

can become unavailable through

precipitation,
Which

happens if plant available inorganic P reacts with

dissolved iron, aluminum, manganese , or calcium to

form phosphate minerals.
Dissolution

of phosphate minerals occurs when the

mineral dissolves and releases phosphorus

Mineralization and
Immobilization
Mineralization

is the microbial conversion of organic

P to H2PO4-or HPO42-, forms of plant available P
known as orthophosphates.
Immobilization occurs when these plant available P
forms are consumed by microbes, turning the P into
organic P forms that are not available to plants..
During immobilization there is not enough P to
sustain both plants and microorganisms; and so,
microorganisms scavenge the soil for P
The microbial P will become available over time as
the microbes die

RUNOFF AND EROSSION

Runoff is
Erosion

a major cause of P loss from farms.

by wind can carry particles that contain sorbed-

P to water systems, where phosphorus may later desorb

Sediments

containing phosphorus can also contaminate

ground and/or surface waters

Phosphorus

availability is reduced by the removal of

plant material during harvest.

LEACHING
Phosphorus

leaching can occur if the soil reaches

maximum phosphorus holding capacity, especially when

P fertilizers are over applied.
Sandy
The

soils are most susceptible to phosphorus leaching

consequence of phosphorus leaching is the

contamination of ground water reserves.

LEACHING

SOURCES

Content

Allott, Andrew, and David

Mindorff.Biology: Course Companion.
2014 ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
Oxford IB Diploma Programme.
Walpole, Brenda.Biology for the IB
Diploma. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge
UP, 2014. Print.
Images
Unless otherwise noted, images are
obtained from Pixabay (www.pixabay.com
) and used under the CC0 Public Domain
license.

THANK YOU