Nutrient Cycles

All of the life on earth revolves around a few key nutrients and in combination with energy form the sun it is theses nutrients which are required by all of earth's producers. These nutrients are essentially contained within a closed system on earth, which means no nutrients enter or leave the biosphere in large quantities. For this reason there is a limited amount of the essential nutrients available to the producers, so the available nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus must be recycled and reused by organisms. The recycling of these nutrients involves interactions between both the living organisms and the physical environment, so they are called biogeochemical cycles. These cycles are often considered to be "leaky" since nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus may be carried away in rain water to the deep ocean where it is removed from the cycle, other sources of nutrient loss include harvesting and burning of organic material. The following nutrient cycles are of utmost importance to all life and earth and are reported on thoroughly.

Nutrient Cycles:

Water Cycle

Carbon Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle

Phosphorus Cycle