As organic matter decomposes, inorganic nitrogen will be released into the soil. As both plants and microorganisms grow, they utilize the nitrogen in the soil. Once plants and microorganisms die, they decompose and release inorganic nitrogen to the soil through mineralization.
The goal of OPSEC is to control information and observable actions about an organization's capabilities, limitations, and intentions to prevent or control exploitation of available information by an adversary. The OPSEC process involves five steps, which will be discussed in greater depth later in this section. These steps are:
Assess Risk. Match each vulnerability to a threat, and assign each one a risk level. The Interagency OPSEC Support Staff shows 'risk' the be the product of threat X vulnerability X impact, which demonstrates the true 'cost' should an adversary be successful or the overall value of the information that would be lost. This is the 'so what' factor of OPSEC, and the true selling point for a strong OPSEC program. Apply countermeasures Beginning with high-risk vulnerabilities, create a plan and implement countermeasures in order to mitigate the risk. The goal may be to lower or eliminate the risk, or to remove the threat's access to the resource. It's important to note that not all risks may be mitigated, depending on the resources available and likelihood of occurrence.