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18.4
Ecosystem Recycling
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Biochemical Cycle | the circulation of substances through living organisms from or to the environment |
| Groundwater | the water that is beneath the Earth's surface |
| Water Cycle | the continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land and the oceans |
| Transpiration | the process by which plants release water vapor into the air through stomata; also the release of water vapor into the air by other organisms |
| Carbon Cycle | the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back |
| Nitrogen Cycle | the process in which nitrogen circulates amoung the air, soil, water, plants and animals in an ecosystem |
| Nitrogen fixation | the process by which gaseous nitrogen is converted into nitrates, compounds that organisms can use to make amino acids and other nitrogen-containing organic moleculres |
| Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria | a bacterium that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia |
| Ammonification | the formation of ammonia compounds in the soil by the action of pacteria on decaying matter |
| Nitrification | the process by which nitrites and nitrates are produced by bacteria in the soil |
| Dentrification | the liberation of nitrogen from nitrogen-containing compounds by bacteria in the soil |
| Phosphorus Cycle | the cyclic movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment |