Chapter 5

Ecosystems and Matter Cycling

 Learning Objectives
• Understand (broadly) the nature of matter.
• Describe why human intervention in
biogeochemical cycles is a fundamental factor
behind many environmental issues.
• Learn the main components and pathways of the
phosphorus, nitrogen, sulphur, and carbon cycles.
• Identify the main components of the hydrological
cycle and the nature of human intervention.
• Understand the causes, effects, and management
approaches to eutrophication & acid deposition.
 Introduction
• The most critical environmental challenges
facing the Earth, such as global warming, acid
deposition, and the spread of dead zones in the
ocean, result from cycle disturbance
• Understanding the nature of biogeochemical
cycles is necessary to be able to fully appreciate
the nature of these problems and their potential
solutions.
 Matter
• Everything is either matter or energy
• Matter has mass and takes up space.
• Its what things are made of!!
• Atoms are the smallest particles that still exhibit the
characteristics of an element.
• Molecules are more than one atom joined together.
• When two or more different atoms come together,
they are called a compound.
• Water (above) is a compound.
Four major kinds of organic compounds make up
living organisms:
• Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids

Matter exists in three

different states:
• Solid,
• liquid,
• gas
Matter can be
transformed from one
state to another by
changes in heat and/or
pressure.
Law of conservation
of matter: Matter can
neither be created nor
destroyed, only
How do these concepts link back
transformed from one to Chapter 3 and energy at
form into another. different levels of the trophic
pyramid?
 Biogeochemical Cycles
About 30 of the naturally occurring elements are a
necessary part of living things. These are known as
nutrients.
• Macronutrients are needed in relatively large
amounts by all organism
• Micronutrients are required in lesser amounts by
most species.
Almost 97% of organic mass is made up of 6
nutrients: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
phosphorus, and sulphur.
 Biogeochemical Cycles, cont’d
These nutrients are cycled continuously among different
components of the ecosphere in characteristic paths
known as biogeochemical cycles.

Generalized
nutrient cycle
models help
represent the
complexity of
Earth’s
processes.
Ecosystems vary substantially in terms of the
speed of cycling and the relative proportion of
nutrients in each compartment.
Residence time: the typical
length of time something
stays in one Earth system
component (reservoir).
• Examples?
Is speed of cycling more
rapid in tropical forest vs
temperate?
Why?
Speed of cycling may also
change within a cycle,
depending on season and
type of nutrient.
• Example – temperate and
boreal versus tropical
forest?

Annual atmospheric GHGs R. Friberg

Cycles can be classified according to the main
source of their matter.
• Gaseous cycles (faster) have most of their matter in
the atmosphere (the nitrogen cycle).

• Sedimentary
cycles (slower)
hold most of
their matter in
the lithosphere
(phosphorus and
sulphur).
• Under natural conditions, recycling rates between
components achieve a balance over time in which
inputs and outputs are equal (balanced).
• Human activities speed up transference between
cycles components.
Many pollution problems
result from human-
induced accumulation in
one or more components
of a cycle.
Examples?
 Biogeochemical Cycles, cont’d
Sedimentary Cycles
Sedimentary cycles mobilize materials from the
lithosphere to the hydrosphere and back to the
lithosphere.
• Some involve a gaseous phase (Sulphur) and some do
not (Phosphorous).
• These cycles rely on geological processes over long
periods to complete the cycle.
Human actions interfere with the speed at which
these cycles occur, causing environmental problems.
 Phosphorus (P) …A macronutrient
Limited
availability (rare)
in relation to
biological
demand;
therefore, its
essential that it
cycles efficiently
between
components
Phosphorus is often the dominant limiting factor in
freshwater ecosystems and for plant growth in soil.
• Rocks in the Earth’s crust are the main reservoir of P.
• Animal bones (photo) are also high in Phosphorus
• Animal wastes are also significant source of P.
(negative implications and benefits from feedlots?)
• Soil acidity influences P availability
• Many plants have a mutualistic relationship with soil
fungi (mycorrhizae) that help get access to P.
Phosphorus not taken up by
plants is removed by water
transport to the ocean.
• High productivity estuaries
• Shallow, productive coastal
areas
• Fixed in biomass by
phytoplankton or other
aquatic plants
Sedimentary Cycles continued…
Sulphur (S)
A necessary component for all life and a building
component of proteins. Sulphur is a sedimentary
cycle like phosphorus.
• Most is found in sedimentary rocks.
But Sulphur differs from phosphorus in two ways:
• It has an atmospheric component and thus better
recycling potential (it is rarely limiting)
• It has strong dependencies on microbial activity
(changing Sulphur into forms that can be adsorbed by
plants). See also N.
 Climate change
implications for
Sulphur cycles
include drying peat
beds in the north
emitting Sulphur
dioxide (SO2) when
re-wet). Adds to
acid deposition
(rain).
What other
activities affect the
sulphur cycle?

© [Oxford University Press or author name], 2019 18

Gaseous Cycles
Nitrogen (N)
Required by all organisms for life.
• The atmosphere is more than
78% nitrogen gas (N2)
• Nitrogen cycles between the
atmosphere and the lithosphere,
• Most organisms obtain nitrogen
not from the atmosphere but
from the soil as nitrates
Nitrogen fixation occurs as bacteria
transform atmospheric nitrogen into
various forms that are available to
plants.
• The most important nitrogen fixers
are bacteria of the Rhizobium family
that grow on root nodules of plants,
such as the pea and legume family
(peas, beans, clover, alfalfa). And wild species like
alder, lupines.
• Mutualistic relationship: bacteria
make nitrogen available to plants and
get photosynthetic products in Primary colonizers
return. (succession)?
Most physical nitrogen comes from the breakdown of
existing biomass by decomposer food chains.
• It is quickly depleted from soil (highly soluble in
water) and is often a limiting factor to plant
growth (links to agricultural practices?).
• Nitrogen is tightly circulated in most ecosystems
between the dead and living biomass.
• Mineralization: decomposing biomass is
converted back to ammonia and ammonium salts
by bacterial action and returned to the soil (why
compost matters).
Scientists unsure
whether the nitrogen
cycle will form a positive
or negative feedback
loop with rising
atmospheric carbon
levels (you don’t need to
know the details if these
arguments).
What other human
activities impact the
nitrogen cycle?
 This leads, e.g., to
eutrophication
(covered later).

© [Oxford University Press or author name], 2019 23

Gaseous Cycles
Carbon (C)
Carbon dioxide makes up only 0.03% of the
atmosphere but is the main reservoir for the
carbon that is the building block for life
• Plants take up carbon dioxide directly from the
atmosphere through the process of
photosynthesis.
• Carbon is incorporated in biomass and passed
along the food chain.
• Respiration by
organisms
transforms some
carbon in biomass
back into CO2
which enters
atmosphere.
• Inefficient
anaerobic decay
conditions such as
in peat bogs stores
carbon. Why?
Biomass in past forest, marine, and freshwater
ecosystems transformed into fossil fuels through heat
and compression over millions of years.
Scientists question the
extent of negative and
positive feedbacks related
to N and C cycles from
climate change.
• Ocean CO2 adsorption
(acidification) might
enhance phytoplankton C
and N uptake?
• Elevated atmospheric CO2
might stimulate more plant
growth and CO2 uptake?

© [Oxford University Press or author name], 2019 27

 The Hydrological Cycle
Water occurs in a fixed supply that cycles between
various reservoirs driven by energy from the sun.
• The ocean is the largest reservoir (97%)
• Most of the rest is tied up in polar
ice caps and a small amount
occurs in fresh water.
• Water travels between these
reservoirs through evaporation
and precipitation known as the
hydrological cycle
Gravity moves
water down
through the soil
until it reaches the
water table,
where all the
spaces between
the soil particles
are full of water.
This is the
groundwater.
At greater depths,
the groundwater
may penetrate to
occupy aquifers
(freshwater
chapter)
• The average residence times in global reservoirs vary
(e.g., oceans vs atmosphere).
• Pg. 145 impact of residence time on river recovery from
pollution, versus groundwater (which recovers faster?) .
• Residence times are
changing in response
to temperature changes
associated with global
climate change e.g.,
melting ice caps).
• There may be critical threshold rates of melting, e.g.,
Ward Hunt Lake – what trend changed?
• Other implications, feedbacks (e.g., permafrost) reflect
complex and sometimes non-linear behavior
• Canada - up to one-third of the world’s fresh water,
but most of it is held in a solid state.
• Most of this is in the Arctic, where summer air
temperatures have risen markedly due to global climate
change.
o Melting is a large contributor to global sea level rise.
• As water demands grow, we are increasingly dependent
on groundwater sources
 Biogeochemical Cycles and
Human Activity
Eutrophication
• A process of nutrient enrichment (P and N) of water
bodies that leads to greater productivity.
• Nutrient enrichment encourages increased growth of
aquatic plants, favouring growth of phytoplankton
https://ioc.unesco.
org/topics/eutrop
hication-nutrients
Eutrophication
•Plants lower down are shaded from sunlight (and
produce less oxygen
•Oxygen produced by phytoplankton stays in shallow
water, escapes back to atmosphere
•Dead phytoplankton filters downward where it is
consumed by oxygen demanding decomposers,
leading to oxygen depletion.
© [Oxford University Press or author name], 2019 36
 What Can We Do about It?
• The main way to control eutrophication is to limit the
input of nutrients into the water body.
• Point sources of pollution, or single discharge points,
include effluent discharges from sewage plants or
industrial processes.

It can be difficult to deal

with diffuse, non-point
sources, such as runoff
from urban areas and
agricultural land.
Eutrophication
Used to be considered a
problem of smaller water
bodies, but now entire
areas of the oceans are
becoming so oxygen
deficient (hypoxic) that
they are being described as
“dead zones”.
Acid Deposition
What Is Acid Deposition?
• Acids are chemicals that release
hydrogen ions (H+) when
dissolved in water.
• Acidity is a measure of the
concentration of hydrogen ions
in a solution and is measured
using the pH scale, which
ranges from 0 to 14.
• Acidic deposition includes
rainfall, snow, fog …
What Causes Acid
Deposition?
• Increases in acidity are due
to human interference in the
sulphur and nitrogen
cycles.
• The largest sources are the
smelting of sulphur-rich
metal ores and the burning
of fossil fuels for energy.
Acid Deposition
• Excessive sulphur is produced when
ore bodies (copper and nickel) are
smelted at high temperatures to
release the metal, with sulphur
released into the atmosphere as a
waste product of the process.
• In Canada, the smelting of metal
ores accounts for most sulphur
emissions
• In the US, electrical utilities are the
largest source, accounting for 70 per
cent of emissions (why electrical
utilities?)
What Are the Effects of Acid Deposition?
Aquatic Effects
• Disfigurement, death and extirpation of insects and
fish, food chain effects through depletion of food
sources, reproductive capacities impaired
• Acid shock—Pulse of acidity in spring with snow melt
Terrestrial Effects
• Tissue death in plant leaves;
• acids leach away soil nutrients required for plant
growth, leading to nutrient deficiencies;
• metals dissolved in soil water inhibit plant nutrient
uptake and can lead to food chain effects;
• microbial activity is inhibited;
• inhibition of crop growth.
What Are the Effects of Acid Deposition?
Ecosystem sensitivity
• Critical load: maximum level of acid deposition that
can be sustained in an area without compromising
ecological integrity
• Areas with deep soils and carbonate rock have a high-
buffering capacity;
• areas with difficult-to-weather rocks with low nutrient
content (thin soils following glaciation) have low-
buffering capacity.
Socio-economic effects
• Impacts to fishing, wood production, old
monuments
• Impact on human health from inhalation of
airborne acidified particles or ingesting the products
of acid rain
• Acidified water may also hold other substances in
solution that are deleterious to human health
(aluminum, mercury, chromium, nickel)
Acid Deposition
What Can We Do about It?
Acid deposition is not localized
• In Canada, more than half of the acid
deposition originates in the US
• In 1983, Canadian Council of Resource and
Environment Ministers agreed on an annual
target deposition (critical load) of 20
kilograms/hectare as an acceptable goal
• Policy target value (PTV) vs. Scientific target
value (STV): What's the difference?
What Can We Do about It?
• Advances in science have allowed for more
comprehensive definitions of critical loads.
• Do policy target values always align with
scientific target values?
• Emission controls have focused largely on
point-source control of sulphate emissions.
• It is more difficult to address the more
diffuse nitrogen derivatives coming mainly from
the transportation sector.
• Why more progress in sulphur dioxide versus nitrogen oxide
emissions????
• What are some continued acid rain impacts and concerns?
 Implications
• Understanding the nature of matter and how
nutrients cycle in the ecosphere is key to
appreciating many of the more challenging
environmental issues that society faces.

• Acid deposition, eutrophication, and global

change all have their roots in disruption of
biogeochemical cycles.
 Implications, cont’d

• Science is only just starting to unravel some of

the secrets of these cycles, but we know enough
to understand their significance.

• We must better understand the basic science

of the interconnectedness of these cycles and
link this to our ability to manage the situation.