The 3 cycles
Water, Carbon, and Nitrogen
Carbon cycle
Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide from respiration and combustion. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by producers to make carbohydrates in photosynthesis. Animals feed on the plant passing the carbon compounds along the food chain.
- Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere
- Carbohydrates are made in photosynthesis
- Animals exhale carbon dioxide
- dead organisms are eaten by decomposers, carbon returns to the atmosphere
- dead plants and animals that are decomposed turn into fossil fuels
Nitrogen cycle
the series of processes by which nitrogen and its compounds are interconverted in the environment and in living organisms, including nitrogen fixation and decomposition.
- Nitrogen fixation
- Nitrification
- Ammorification
- Denitrification
Water cycle
the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.
- evaporation
- condensation
- Sublimation
- Precipitation
- Runoff
- Infiltration