Question

How are nutrients lost from an ecosystem?

Answer 1

Ecosystem:

1. An ecosystem is a geographic region where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as the weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.
2. An ecosystem consists of biotic, or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or non-living parts.
3. Biological factors include plants, animals, and other organisms.

Various methods of nutrient loss from an ecosystem:

1. The methods of loss of nutrients from the ecosystem are as follows:

A. Soil erosion:

1. This leads to the removal of the topmost soil layer.
2. It is the most fertile nutrient-rich layer and its removal leads to the loss of nutrients.

B. Leaching:

1. It is the process of the detachment of solute from its carrier substance.
2. Hence, the nutrient is detached from the soil.

C. Denitrification:

1. It is the reduction of nitrates and nitrites to their oxides or free nitrogen.
2. It cannot be utilized in the food chain.

D. Shifting cultivation:

1. It involves land cultivation for a limited period.
2. New land area is cultivated post exhaustion of fertility of that area.
3. It is practiced by nomads.

D. Wildfires:

1. It depletes natural flora and fauna.
2. It takes several years for recovery to occur.