Key words: Nutrient Cycles

Question 1

Nutrient

Answer 1

Element or compound (chemical) necessary for an organism to live and grow

Question 2

Nutrient cycles

Answer 2

Movement and exchange of elements that are essential to life from inorganic molecules through fixation and then into living organisms, before being decomposed back into inorganic molecules.

Question 3

Decomposers

Answer 3

Bacteria/fungi that break down dead organic matter and release nutrients into the environment

Question 4

Saprophytic

Answer 4

Eats dead organic material

Question 5

Reservoir

Answer 5

Abiotic phase where nutrients stay for a long time

Question 6

Assimilation

Answer 6

Conversion of a nutrient into a useable form that can be incorporated into the tissues of an organism

Question 7

Residence time

Answer 7

Average time that a particle spends in a particular system

Question 8

Source

Answer 8

Area where there is a net gain of material

(E.g. more gas diffusing into the atmosphere than dissolves into the ocean, in which case the ocean would be a source. Material moves from source to sink)

Question 9

Sink

Answer 9

Area where there is a net loss of material

Material moves from source to sink

Question 10

Infiltration

Answer 10

Water soaking into the ground to form ground water

Question 11

Leaching

Answer 11

Water soluble nutrients being removed from the soil and dissolved into the run off