bb Flashcards
(15 cards)
What do nitrogen fixing bacteria convert N2 gas into?
Ammonium compounds
These ammonium compounds can then be converted to usable nitrates.
Where can nitrogen fixing bacteria be found?
Free-living in the soil or within the root nodules of some plants
This adaptability allows them to help various plants with nitrogen uptake.
What natural phenomenon can split the bond between two nitrogen atoms?
Lightning
This process turns N2 into nitrous oxides like N2O and NO2.
What happens to nitrous oxides after lightning splits nitrogen?
They dissolve in rainwater and leach into the soil.
What is ammonification?
The conversion of nitrogen compounds in waste products and dead organisms into ammonia by saprobionts.
Who are saprobionts?
Decomposers such as fungi and bacteria.
What do ammonia form in the soil?
Ammonium ions.
What is nitrification?
The process where ammonium ions in the soil are converted into nitrogen compounds that can be used by plants.
What do nitrifying bacteria initially convert ammonium ions into?
Nitrites.
What do different nitrifying bacteria convert nitrites into?
Nitrates.
What do denitrifying bacteria use during respiration?
Nitrates in the soil.
What gas is produced by denitrifying bacteria during respiration?
Nitrogen gas.
Under what conditions does denitrification occur?
Anaerobic conditions (little or no oxygen available).
Fill in the blank: Nitrogen fixing bacteria can be free-living in the soil or can live within the _______.
root nodules of some plants.
True or False: Ammonification is the process of converting ammonia into nitrates.
False
Ammonification is the conversion of nitrogen compounds into ammonia.
