Nearly one-fourth of all marine animals, including about 7,000 species of fish, depend upon coral reefs for some part of their life cycle. Learn More at AskFWC Get FWC News Feeds
Although nitrites are the nitrogen compound chiefly used in meat curing, nitrates are used in certain specialty curing processes where a long release of nitrite from parent nitrate stores is needed. The use of nitrates in food preservation is controversial.
Ammonia can be converted to nitrite (NO 2) and nitrate (NO 3) by bacteria, and then used by plants. Nitrate and ammonia are the most common forms of nitrogen in aquatic systems. Nitrate predominates in unpolluted waters.