Why are biogeochemical cycles important

The main stages in carbon cycle are — photosynthesis, respiration, combustion and decomposition. Oxygen cycle. Oxygen cycle is the movement of oxygen through atmosphere, biosphere and lithosphere.

It is released through the process of photolysis. The main steps of the cycle include photosynthesis and respiration and further repetition. Nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is essential for life form owing to its presence in nucleic acids and proteins.

Plants absorb nitrogen through microbial transformations. The main steps involved in the cycle —. Nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen assimilation. However, note that this is not sequential order. Sulphur cycle. The cycling of all of these elements is interconnected.

For example, the movement of water is critical for the leaching of nitrogen and phosphate into rivers, lakes, and oceans. Furthermore, the ocean itself is a major reservoir for carbon. Thus, mineral nutrients are cycled, either rapidly or slowly, through the entire biosphere, from one living organism to another, and between the biotic and abiotic world. Water has a large effect on climate, ecosystems, and living organisms and is continuously cycled through the environment.

Water is the basis of all living processes. More than half of the human body is made up of water, while human cells are more than 70 percent water. Thus, most land animals need a supply of fresh water to survive.

However, when examining the stores of water on earth, Of the remaining water, 99 percent is locked underground as water or as ice. Thus, less than 1 percent of fresh water is easily accessible from lakes and rivers. Many living things, such as plants, animals, and fungi, are dependent on the small amount of fresh surface water supply, a lack of which can have massive effects on ecosystem dynamics.

Humans, of course, have developed technologies to increase water availability, such as digging wells to harvest groundwater, storing rainwater, and using desalination to obtain drinkable water from the ocean. Although this pursuit of drinkable water has been ongoing throughout human history, the supply of fresh water is still a major issue in modern times.

Water availability : Only 2. Less than 1 percent of fresh water is easily accessible to living things. Water cycling is extremely important to ecosystem dynamics as it has a major influence on climate and, thus, on the environments of ecosystems. For example, when water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings, cooling the environment. When it condenses, it releases energy, warming the environment. The evaporation phase of the cycle purifies water, which then replenishes the land with fresh water.

The flow of liquid water and ice transports minerals across the globe. It is also involved in reshaping the geological features of the earth through processes including erosion and sedimentation. The water cycle is also essential for the maintenance of most life and ecosystems on the planet. Most of the water on earth is stored for long periods in the oceans, underground, and as ice. Residence time is a measure of the average time an individual water molecule stays in a particular reservoir.

Cycling of water : Water from the land and oceans enters the atmosphere by evaporation or sublimation, where it condenses into clouds and falls as rain or snow. Precipitated water may enter freshwater bodies or infiltrate the soil. The cycle is complete when surface or groundwater reenters the ocean.

This leads to the evaporation water to water vapor of liquid surface water and the sublimation ice to water vapor of frozen water, which deposits large amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere. Rain eventually percolates into the ground, where it may evaporate again if it is near the surface , flow beneath the surface, or be stored for long periods.

More easily observed is surface runoff: the flow of fresh water either from rain or melting ice. Runoff can then make its way through streams and lakes to the oceans or flow directly to the oceans themselves. Rain and surface runoff are major ways in which minerals, including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, are cycled from land to water.

Carbon enters the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide via the carbon cycle and returns to organic carbon via photosynthesis. Carbon, the second most abundant element in living organisms, is present in all organic molecules. Its role in the structure of macromolecules is of primary importance to living organisms. Carbon compounds contain especially- high forms of energy, which humans use as fuel. Since the s the beginning of the Industrial Revolution , the number of countries using massive amounts of fossil fuels increased, which raised the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

It is a major environmental concern worldwide. The carbon cycle is most easily studied as two interconnected sub-cycles: one dealing with rapid carbon exchange among living organisms and the other dealing with the long-term cycling of carbon through geologic processes.

Carbon cycle : Carbon dioxide gas exists in the atmosphere and is dissolved in water. Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide gas to organic carbon, while respiration cycles the organic carbon back into carbon dioxide gas. Long-term storage of organic carbon occurs when matter from living organisms is buried deep underground and becomes fossilized.

Volcanic activity and human emissions bring this stored carbon back into the carbon cycle. Living organisms are connected in many ways, even between ecosystems. A good example of this connection is the exchange of carbon between autotrophs and heterotrophs. Carbon dioxide is the basic building block that most autotrophs use to build multi-carbon, high-energy compounds, such as glucose. The energy harnessed from the sun is used by these organisms to form the covalent bonds that link carbon atoms together.

These chemical bonds store this energy for later use in the process of respiration. However carbon dioxide is acquired, a by-product of the process is oxygen. The photosynthetic organisms are responsible for depositing approximately 21 percent of the oxygen content in the atmosphere that we observe today.

If dead bodies accumulate on earth, then there will b no space to keep all of them. This is one reason why recycling their bodies is important. Another point is that mater is found on earth and has been there since earth was developed and became ready to support life. After that matter has not been added to earth in big amount, nor in a regular manner, so it must be recycled to support the new organisms which are continuously being added to the ecosystem.

Why are biogeochemical cycles important to ecosystems? Sedimentary Cycles: In this cycle, the essential elements of living matter are circulated.

Gaseous Cycles: The main store houses of elements in these cycles are atmosphere and oceans. Importance of Biogeochemical Cycles. Biogeochemical cycles plays important role in the survival of various organisms including humans. The importance of the biogeochemical cycles is given below:. It will transform the matter from one form to another which helps in the optimisation of matter in a form specific to particular organism.

For Example- Water in liquid form utilize by the Human. It facilitates the storage of the elements.