denitrification is the process that releases nitrogen gas back into the atmosphere.
denitrification is the process that releases nitrogen gas back into the atmosphere.
what process releases nitrogen gas back into the atmosphere?
denitrification
when plant tissues are shed or are eaten, the nitrogen in those tissues becomes available to animals and microbes. microbial decomposition releases nitrogen compounds from dead organic matter in the soil, where plants, fungi, and bacteria compete for it. some soil bacteria use organic nitrogen-containing compounds as a source of carbon, and release ammonium ions into the soil. this process is known as nitrogen mineralization. others convert ammonium to nitrite and nitrate ions, a process known as nitrification. nitric oxide and nitrous oxide are also produced during nitrification. under nitrogen-rich and oxygen-poor conditions, nitrates and nitrites are converted to nitrogen gas, a process known as denitrification.
ecosystem
viral shunt is a big component to the cycling of nitrogen in marine environments. nitrogen gas from the atmosphere gets dissolved into surface of the water. nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria, such as "trichodesmium" and "anabaena," convert the nitrogen gas (n) into ammonium (nh) for microbes to use. the process of converting nitrogen gas to ammonia (and related nitrogen compounds) is called nitrogen fixation.the process of uptake of ammonium by microbes to be used in protein synthesis is called nitrogen assimilation. the viral shunt causes mass death of heterotrophic bacteria. the decomposition of these microbes releases particulate organic nitrogen (pon) and dissolved organic nitrogen (don), which either stay in the upper mixing layer or sink to the deeper parts of the ocean. in the deep ocean, pon and don are converted back into ammonium by remineralisation. this ammonium can be used by deep ocean microbes, or undergo nitrification and be oxidized into nitrites and nitrates. the sequence of nitrification is as followed:
viral shunt