Think for a moment about the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus nutrient cycles. You know that human activities have changed each of these nutrient cycles, so that now a percentage of the annual flux is attributable to humans. Rank the nutrient cycles in order of the greatest % human interventior to the least % human intervention. O carbon > nitrogen > phosphorus O nitrogen > phosphorus > carbon O carbon > phosphorus > nitrogen O phosphorus > carbon > nitrogen phosphorus > nitrogen > carbon
Nutrient Cycle
The chemical nutrients that are essential for the synthesis of living matter are taken from the physical environment. After the death and decomposition of living organisms, they are returned to the environment to be used over and again. This cyclic back and forth regenerative movement of chemical elements between organisms and their physical environment is known as the biogeochemical cycle or nutrient cycle. Since these elements serve as the essential chemical nutrients of organisms, their cyclic movements are also called nutrient cycling or mineral cycling. Minerals are not uniformly distributed all over the ecosystems but are more concentrated in specific compartments, called pools. The major biogeochemical cycles include the water cycle, nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, phosphorus cycle, calcium cycle, sulfur cycle, etc.
Biosphere
The geologist Eduard Sues coined the term biosphere. The biosphere is characterized as a part of the earth, which includes ground and air. Moreover, the organisms on earth live in the biosphere. The biosphere is a confined area on the earth's surface where water, soil, and air combine to promote life. Several different types of life exist here.
A nutrient cycle defines a system of transfer of a nutrient or energy between organisms and the abiotic components of the environment. Animals, plants and other living organisms consume the nutrients in the soil which are ultimately returned to the environment when they die and their body decompose. the major nutrient cycles of biogeochemical cycles in the environment are: carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle, water or hydrologic cycle and phosphorus cycle.
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