Nutrient Cycles Topic Overview - Co2

Nutrient Cycles Topic Overview - Co2

1. Past Targets

   • Bolder Headings
   • More Detail

2. Why CO2 is important

   • <--- Structure of Leaf
   • Stomata let gases in and out. CO2 is used in the light independent reaction
   • It is produced in respiration and is released as a waste product

3. Fluctuations

   • Daily Fluctuations --->
   • Annual Fluctuations -->
   • Since the Industrial Revolution there has been a general increase in CO2 Levels
   • In the day plants photosynthesise as light dependant respiration can occur.
   • At night plants so not photosynthesise and so do not use as much Carbon Dioxide
   • As the CO2 levels rise, so is the temperature

4. Ocean

   • The ocean can act as a carbon sink by dissolving CO2. Fossilisation also occurs which locks up CO2

5. Saprobionts

   • They hydrolyse carbon locked up in dead creatures. They do this by secreting enzymes in extracellular digestion. They also respire, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.
     • If an organism dies somewhere saprobionts cannot reach the carbon is locked up. This can occur in peat bogs, or in the Ocean.

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