Nutrient Cycles

All living things need chemical nutrients. These include carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, water, and trace elements such as copper and zinc. Chemical nutrients are constantly recycled through Earth’s biosphere-they pass between living and non living things.

 

Carbon cycle

• Carbon is a part of all living things. It moves around the living world in a constant cycle. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and animals take in carbon when they eat plants. Carbon is released when plants and animals decompose.

Carbon Cycle

Water Cycle

• When water in seas and oceans warms up, water vapor evaporates into the atmosphere. It cools as it rises and condenses back into water. Droplets of water from clouds and fall as rain.

Water Cycle

Oxygen Cycle

• During photosynthesis, all plant release oxygen. Living things take in oxygen to break down energy in food.

Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen is needed by living things to make proteins but it must be combined with other elements before it can be used. Some nitrogen is combined by lighting, but most is combined by bacteria that live in soil.