Answer 1:
Great question. As you probably know, ammonia
is a chemical that contains nitrogen. When
protein breaks down, one of the products is
ammonia. So with all of those things dying
(and giving off wastes) in the ocean all the time,
where does the ammonia go? The short
answer is that producers (species that do
photosynthesis) pull it right back out of the
water and use the nitrogen to build their own
tissues. Without nitrogen for making
proteins, DNA, and other important molecules,
producers can’t grow and reproduce.
On land, farmers have known for a long time
that crops grow better if you add manure, dead
fish, or other wastes/dead stuff to the soil.
The idea is the same in water.
On land, the familiar producers are plants,
like trees and corn. In the ocean, the producers
are algae and a group called archaea (pronounced
“AR-key-uh”). Archaea used to be grouped with
bacteria, but it turns out that we’re more similar
to mushrooms than archaea are to bacteria. When
things die and break down in the ocean, ammonium
(similar to ammonia) is given off. Ammonium
is even easier for producers to absorb. The
archaea not only use ammonia for nitrogen, they
get energy from breaking it down, like we get
energy from breaking down proteins, fats, and
carbohydrates.
One group of algae live in coral. Coral
are animals, so they eat. They also give off
wastes that are like our urine and contain
nitrogen. The algae absorb nitrogen from this
waste.Our beautiful coral reefs are partly the
result of this mutualism between an algae and an
animal.
There is a global nitrogen cycle that
involves the atmosphere, the air, and the
water. All are connected. Archaea turn out to
be very important in this cycle. As we learn more
about microbes (species you can only see with a
microscope), we’re sure to learn a lot more about
the world as a whole.
About 80% of the air around us is nitrogen, so
why do plants need nitrogen in fertilizer?
If you want to look this up, compare ammonia to
atmospheric nitrogen.
Thanks for asking,
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