The Nitrogen cycle

1) The atmosphere contains 78% nitrogen and is very unreactive

2) Nitrogen is needed for making proteins for growth, so living organisms have to get it somehow

3) Plants get their nitrogen from the soil, so nitrogen in the air has to be turned into nitrates before plants can use it. Nitrogen compounds are then passed along food chains and webs as animals eat plants (and each other)

4) Decomposers (bacteria and fungi in the soil) break down proteins in rotting plants and animals, and urea in animal waste, into ammonia. This returns the nitrogen compounds to the soil - so the nitrogen in the organisms is recycled

5) Nitrogen fixation is the process of turning N2 from the…