What is Nitrogen Cycle?

• Composes about four-fifths (78.03

percent) by volume of the atmosphere

• An essential part of the amino acids, it is

a basic element of life

• Is an important element in plant nutrition

• In the form of protein is an important

constituent of animal tissue
What is nitrogen and why is it needed?

● Nitrogen is a chemical element that is

needed by living organisms

● Nitrogen is a component of amino acids

in proteins and bases in nucleic acids

● Without nitrogen, organisms would not be

able to grow or reproduce
● Nitrogen makes up approximately 80
percent of the air in the atmosphere

● The triple bond in the nitrogen

molecule makes the molecule inert
(unreactive) and stable
Steps of Nitrogen Cycle
 Nitrogen Fixation
 Nitrogen Assimilation
 Ammonification
 Nitrification
 Denitrification
Nitrogen Fixation

Nitrogen gas is converted into inorganic

nitrogen compounds. It is mostly (90
percent) accomplished by free-living,
nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

• symbiotic bacteria living on the roots of

plants (mostly legumes and alders)

• cyanobacteria (formerly known as

bluegreen algae)

• archaebacteria (also known as

archaea) in deep-sea hydrothermal vents
Nitrogen Fixation by Lightning

• The high energies provided by lightning

and cosmic radiation serve to combine
atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen into
nitrates, which are carried to the Earth’s
surface in precipitation.
Nitrogen Assimilation
• are assimilation of nitrates and ammonia
resulting from nitrogen fixation into the
specific tissue compounds of algae and
higher plants. Animals then ingest these
algae and plants, converting them into their
own body compounds.
Ammonification

• The remains of all living things and their

waste products are decomposed by
microorganisms which yields ammonia.
Nitrification
• a process carried out by nitrifying
bacteria, transforms soil ammonia into
nitrates, which plants can incorporate into
their own tissues.
Denitrification

• The process where nitrates are

metabolized by denitrifying bacteria to free
nitrogen and returned to the atmosphere
How do humans affect the nitrogen cycle?

Humans affect the nitrogen cycle mainly in

four different ways. Nitrogen fertilizer,
deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, and the
growth of human population.
Nitrogen Fertilizer
Each year, humans produce approximately
80 teragrams of nitrogen fertilizer. For scale,
one teragram is 2,204,622,621.85 lbs, 80
teragrams is 176,369,809,748 lbs.
This immense amount of nitrogen enters the
ecosystems of the planet and as of now, it is
the largest contribution of new nitrogen into
our planet by human race.
Deforestation
Forests and the plants within them have the
ability to retain nitrogen. Therefore when the
trees are cut, the amount of nitrogen
retained decreases and the amount being
put out into the air increases.
Burning of Fossil Fuels
Transportation vehicles, power plants,
industrial factories, and other man-made
devices/buildings that rely on a combustion
process to function increase the amount of
nitrogen because the burning of fossil fuels
sends back nitrogen that was trapped inside,
thus causing an increase in the amount of
nitrogen. This affects the nitrogen cycle.
Human Population Growth
Ultimately, with the growth of the human
population comes come an increase in
demand. Therefore, more trees will be cut
down, more factories will be made, more
vehicles will be driven, and more fertilizer will
be used. - Therefore, there will evidently be
an exponential increase in nitrogen as the
population on Earth continues to grow.