Biogeochemical transformations

Biogeochemical transformations are natural pathways that mediate the flow of fundamental nutrients and chemical elements between living organisms and the environment, as well as the transformation of chemical compounds within the environment. These pathways involve multiple chemical, geological, and/or biological parts of an ecosystem. Chemical and geological systems are the nonliving, or abiotic, parts of the biosphere, whereas biological systems are the living, or biotic, parts of an ecosystem.

Ecosystems experience continuous recycling of elements that collectively support living systems. Understanding biogeochemical transformations is critical to our understanding of how the Earth stores energy and conserves matter, as well as how ecosystems function. This is important when identifying causes and solutions for climate change, as well as for examining, developing, and refining sustainable options and processes in our daily world.

Biogeochemical transformations occur in nearly every environment on Earth. They occur in the Earth’s crust, soils, water, on the sides of buildings, and even in tree leaves, for example. They involve elements such as carbon, nitrogen, iron, oxygen, sulfur, calcium, phosphorous, and many more.

Research related to biogeochemical transformations became more prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s as researchers examined the cycling of elements in forests, fertilizer application in agriculture, and losses of chemical elements to stream water.

Biogeochemical studies have also examined the impacts of acid rain, nitrogen deposition, soil carbon storage, and pollution remediation. These studies have led to revelations regarding causes and solutions for climate change, as well as generally for processes of chemical flow in agricultural ecosystems and cities.

Across the world, biogeochemistry has become an important component of other fields of research, including geology, oceanography, soil and atmospheric science, Earth and environmental science, geomicrobiology, environmental chemistry, and ecology. Researchers study chemical elements, stable isotopes, biogeochemical cycles, and trace elements.

Some related research fields include carbon sequestration, environmental remediation, and environmental microbiology.

Biogeochemical transformations provide information about how ecosystems function and are critical to our understanding of how physical and chemical changes to the environment affect global sustainability.

Many biogeochemical transformations involve elements key to human and environmental health, such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.

Oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon cycles are what make life possible on Earth. While they are separate processes, they depend on one another. Carbon cycles from the atmosphere to living things and back to the atmosphere. The process involves photosynthesis, respiration, methane production, and decomposition. Through the oxygen cycle, oxygen flows through the atmosphere to the biosphere (parts of Earth where life exists) and lithosphere (rigid outer part of Earth containing crust and upper mantle) through processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. Together, these processes help sustain life.

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