B.13C_Nitrogen_Approaching – 02
A small co-op of young farmers decided to grow organic corn. Corn is a crop that requires a lot of nitrogen. Growing corn removes a lot of nitrogen from the soil. Inorganic fertilizer contains nitrogen. It can be added to the soil to increase nitrogen levels. Inorganic fertilizers cannot be used for organic farming. The farmers must find another way to add nitrogen to the soil.
Why do the farmers care about nitrogen in soil? Nitrogen is needed by all organisms. Plants need nitrogen to grow and reproduce. Animals get nitrogen by eating plants or other animals. Nitrogen is used to form important molecules like amino acids, proteins, DNA, and RNA.
The air around us has a large amount of nitrogen gas. Plants cannot use nitrogen gas from the air. How does nitrogen gas in the air turn into the form that plants can use? The nitrogen cycle moves nitrogen from the air to organisms. Nitrogen is also returned to the air. The nitrogen cycle is a biogeochemical cycle. In this cycle atoms move between living and nonliving factors. Living factors in the nitrogen cycle are bacteria, plants, and animals. Nonliving factors are the air, bodies of water, and soil.
