Nitrogen Fixation. By: Elena Propst, John Whitsell, Maddie Yanez, and Brandon Embree

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Nitrogen Fixation. By: Elena Propst, John Whitsell, Maddie Yanez, and Brandon Embree"

Darlene Moody
6 years ago
Views:

1 Nitrogen Fixation By: Elena Propst, John Whitsell, Maddie Yanez, and Brandon Embree

How Nitrogen Affects the Farm. All living organisms need the element nitrogen, one of the six essential elements of life.

Nitrogen is also a large component in chlorophyll, which is a pigment needed in photosynthesis (Wagner).

Plants absorb usable nitrogen compounds through their roots.

2 How Nitrogen Affects the Farm. All living organisms need the element nitrogen, one of the six essential elements of life. Nitrogen is critical to growing plants which use nitrogen to produce protein and nucleic acids (Harrison). Nitrogen is also a large component in chlorophyll, which is a pigment needed in photosynthesis (Wagner). But plants can only use nitrogen in its nitrate and ammonium ion form. Nitrogen is made into usable nitrogen compounds through nitrogen fixation. Plants absorb usable nitrogen compounds through their roots. Farmers distribute the nitrogen among plants in many ways, one example is that farmers spread animal manure in their soil. Without a sufficient amount of nitrogen, the plants would grow at an extremely slow rate or the plants could die. Plants are only able to use nitrogen once it has been through a process called nitrogen fixation.

Nitrogen comes in many forms, such as ammonium, nitrates, nitrogen gas, and organic nitrogen. Nitrogen becomes these many forms by going through a process called the nitrogen cycle.

3 Nitrogen Nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. Nitrogen is the essential component of DNA, RNA and proteins. Nitrogen can be found in water and soil as nitrates and nitrites (Harrison). All animals and plants on the farm require nitrogen. Nitrogen comes in many forms, such as ammonium, nitrates, nitrogen gas, and organic nitrogen. Nitrogen becomes these many forms by going through a process called the nitrogen cycle. 80% of the atmosphere is nitrogen, but capturing it takes a great load of energy. Because of this nitrogen is often in short supply for the plants on a farm therefor slowing down the plant s growing process. The reason for this is when farmers concentrate a large amount of crops in the same area it drains the nitrogen in the area and slows down the whole cycle. Nitrogen is also put in fertilizer which adds nitrogen to the soil.

4 Nitrogen Fixation Nitrogen fixation is a key part of the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen fixation is the process where nitrogen gas is converted into usable nitrogen compounds. Certain bacteria are able to convert nitrogen into usable nitrogen compounds through metabolic processes (Harrison). Anabaena and Nostoc are examples of bacteria s that can fix Nitrogen (Harrison). The bacteria and the plant have a symbiotic relationship. Other than bacteria, high energy natural events can cause nitrogen fixation as well. Some examples of high energy events that fix nitrogen are, lightning, wild fires, and hot magma. Denitrification Denitrification is the process in which oxidized forms of nitrogen such as nitrate (NO 3 ) and nitrite (NO 2 ) are converted into nitrogen gas. This process is carried out by denitrifying bacteria.

5 Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen rotates through the biosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere. There are many processes to the nitrogen cycle. The first process of the nitrogen cycle is nitrogen fixation, when nitrogen gas is converted into usable nitrogen compounds. The second process is nitrification, in which ammonia is converted into nitrite ions (Bernhard). The third process is ammonification, when decomposer bacteria decomposes the nitrogen compounds in animal waste into simpler nitrogen compounds (Bernhard). The fourth and final process in the nitrogen cycle is denitrification, in which usable nitrogen compounds are converted back into nitrogen gas.

6 Bibliography Alexander, Debbie. "Too Much of a Bad Thing?" Science News (1991): 291. Web. ve/nitrogen-cm-april-2010.pdf Bernhard, Anne. "The Nitrogen Cycle: Processes, Players, and Human Impact." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 30 Oct < Harrison, John. "The Nitrogen Cycle: Of Microbes and Men." Visionlearning. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct < Cycle/98>. Wagner, Stephen C. "Biological Nitrogen Fixation." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 30 Oct <

4.1 Cycling of Matter Date: Cycling of Organic and Inorganic Matter. Build your Own Notes:

4.1 Cycling of Matter Date: Cycling of Organic and Inorganic Matter. Build your Own Notes: 4.1 Cycling of Matter Date: Build your Own Notes: Use these topics as guidelines to create your own notes for 4.1 from pages 83 84 Study Notes/Questions Cycling of Organic and Inorganic Matter Matter is