* 4/6/15 Matter in Ecosystems

      So... For today's post, which I am typing up a lot later then I would have liked too, is about... Well, read this:

Energy is not the only thing transferred in ecosystems. Matter is also transferred. Earth is a closed system for matter. All the elements needed for life come from the elements that were present on Earth's crust when it was formed 2.5 billion years ago. The law of conservation of matter states that matter cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred and recycled.

Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen are essential to life. Nitrogen makes of 78% of the atmosphere, and is an odorless, unusable gas. The nitrogen cycle converts unusable nitrogen into a usable form. The nitrogen cycle is the continuous process in which nitrogen is exchanged in organisms an the environment. Some of the free nitrogen in the air combine with other elements in the soil to form compounds that are deposited in the soil. These compounds are then converted into organic compounds by certain forms of bacteria. Then, these compounds are converted into nutrients that can be absorbed by the roots of green plants. The nutrients are forms of nitrogen that living things can use. Producers absorb the nutrients by their s roots, then primary consumers eat the nitrogen containing plants. Decomposers return nitrogen to the soil when they break the waste materials of the consumers or the remains of dead producers or consumers, all of which contain nutrient. Finally,k a kind of bacteria converts it back into atmospheric nitrogen.

Primary consumers eat green plants. Decomposers break down the consumers waste materials as well of the remains of dead consumers and producers. By doing this, Decomposers cycle some carbon into the soil and release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere by green plants, algae, and certain bacteria. These producers then use light energy from the sun to convert the carbon dioxide along with water into oxygen and glucose through photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is also returned to the atmosphere when plants and animals convert oxygen and glucose into carbon dioxide and water through cellular respiration,.