Bell Work Describe the process of recycling paper.

Intro to Biology – Lecture 31 Conserving Resources

What does this symbol mean?

Recycling Processing used materials (waste) into new products

Why is Recycling Useful? to prevent waste of potentially useful materials to reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials to reduce energy usage to reduce air and water pollution

Energy for Recycling All forms of recycling use energy in the process of putting material resources back into use.

Recycling in Ecology Ecosystems use the diversity of food webs to recycle natural materials, such as mineral nutrients, which includes water.

Recycling in Ecology Regulated during the process of decomposition Nutrients are broken down by decomposers and returned to the soil to be used by plants.

Ecological Recycling Also known as the nutrient system. An ecosystem functions as a unit

Recycling Matter Matter is recycled through an ecosystem through cycles Different animals with different eating habits help to recycle matter (carnivores, producers, herbivores, omnivores, scavengers, and decomposers).

Law of Conservation of Matter or Mass Matter can neither be created nor destroyed and that nature is essentially a closed system.

Within an Ecosystem Matter and energy are transferred Nutrient cycling occurs in ecosystems that participate in large scale energy transfers throughout the system.

Recycling is Natural The conservation of resources is a natural, almost unnoticeable process. Life substances are recycled in the ecosystem

Recycling in an Ecosystem The nutrient cycle is nature's recycling system

The Nutrient Cycle A nutrient cycle is nature's way of ensuring life can carry on in the closed system called Earth.

What is a Closed System? Nothing is inputted or outputted from the system

Nature is a Closed System This means that all the elements we rely on to support life on the planet are here and have been here since the beginning.

Where Nutrients are Shared Biogeochemical cycles are complex ways that chemical elements and compounds move between the atmosphere, the soils (lithosphere) living organisms (biosphere) and oceans, lakes etc. (hydrosphere).

How this Relates to Recycling In order for life to continue, each cycle must remain in motion. Once a living thing has finished using a nutrient and either excretes it or drops dead, the nutrient must cycle back for some other living thing to use it.

Recycling Elements About 95% of the total mass of all living things are made up of six elements: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. The nutrient cycles work to keep these elements in circulation.

The Nutrient Recycling Cycles Each cycle has a complex variety of pathways it can take to keep the nutrient moving through the system.

The Recycling Cycles The water cycle (hydrogen and oxygen) The carbon cycle The sulfur cycle The phosphorus cycle The nitrogen cycle

The Two Important Cycles Nitrogen cycle and Phosphorus cycle are the most important to life. This is because the most common limiting factors for growth are inadequate nitrogen or inaccessible phosphorus.

A Form of Recycling Composting – keeps important nutrients in circulation Throwing items away in plastic bags takes those molecules out of the nutrient cycles indefinitely.