PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE

PRESENTED BY:
YASHO VARDHAN
 INTRODUCTION

• The phosphorus cycle is the movement of phosphorus from the environment to organisms
and then back to the environment.
• The phosphorus cycle may also be referred to as the mineral cycle or sedimentarycycle.
• Unlike the other cycles, phosphorus cannot be found in air in the gaseous state.
• The phosphorus cycle is the SLOWEST cycle.
• The atmosphere does not play a significant role in the movement of phosphorus, because
phosphorus and phosphorus-based compounds are usually solids at the typical ranges of
temperature and pressure found on Earth.
• On the land, phosphorus (chemical symbol, P) gradually becomes less available to plants
over thousands of years, because it is slowly lost in runoff.
PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE
• Phosphate salts that are released from rocks through weathering
• Usually dissolve in soil water and will be absorbed by plants. Animals absorb phosphates by
eating plants or plant-eating animals.
• When animals and plants die, phosphates will return to the soils oroceans again during
decomposition.
• After that, phosphorus will end up in sediments or rock formations again, remaining there
for millions of years. Eventually, phosphorus is released again through weathering and the
cycle starts over.
SCHEMATIC
PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE
A GLOBAL VIEW
OF THE • The phosphorus cycle occurs when phosphorus moves
from land to sediments in the seas and then back to land
PHOSPHOROUS again.
CYCLE • The main storage for phosphorus is in the earths crust.
• On land phosphorus is usually found in the form of
phosphates. By the process of weathering and erosion
phosphates enter rivers and streams that transport them
to the ocean.
• Once in the ocean the phosphorus accumulates on
continental shelves in the form of insoluble deposits.
After millions of years, the crustal plates rise from the
sea floor and expose the phosphates on land. After more
time, weathering will release them from rock and the
cycle's geochemical phase begins again
 • The ecosystem phase of the phosphorus cycle moves
AN ECOSYSTEM faster than the sediment phase.
VIEW OF THE • All organisms require phosphorus for synthesizing
PHOSPHOROUS phospholipids, NADPH, ATP. nucleic acids, and other
CYCLE compounds.
• Plants absorb phosphorus very quickly, and then
herbivores get phosphorus by eat plants.
• Then carnivores get phosphorus by eating herbivores.
Eventually both of these organisms will excrete
phosphorus as a waste.
• This decomposition will release phosphorus into the soil.
Plants absorb the phosphorus from the soil and they
recycle it within the ecosystem.
A SOIL BASED VIEW • Initially, phosphate weathers from rocks. The small
OF THE losses in a terrestrial system caused by leaching through
PHOSPHOROUS the action of rain are balanced in the gains from
CYCLE weathering rocks. In soil, phosphate is absorbed on clay
surfaces and organic matter particles and becomes
incorporated (immobilized).
• Plants dissolve ionized forms of phosphate. Herbivores
obtain phosphorus by eating plants, and carnivores by
eating herbivores. Herbivores and carnivores excrete
phosphorus as a waste product in urine and feces.
Phosphorus is released back to the soil when plants or
animal matter decomposes and the cycle repeats.
FORM OF EXISTENCE IN NATURE

• Unlike the other cycles, there is no volatile phosphorus-containing product to return

phosphorus to the atmosphere in the way carbon dioxide, nitrogen gas, and sulfur dioxide are
returned.
• Therefore, phosphorus tends to accumulate in the seas. It can be retrieved by mining the
above-ground sediments of ancient seas, mostly as deposits of calcium phosphate.
• Seabirds also mine phosphorus from the sea by eating phosphorus-containing fishand
depositing it as guano (bird droppings).
• Certain small islands inhabited by such birds have long been mined for these deposits as a
source of phosphorus for fertilizers.
 MICROBIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF
PHOSPHOROUS
• Phosphorus is a macronutrient necessary to all living cells. It is an important component of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), and phospholipids in cell
membranes. It may be stored in intracellular volutin granules as polyphosphates in both
prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
• It is a limiting nutrient for algal growth in lakes. The average concentration of total
phosphorus (inorganic and organic forms) in wastewater is in the range 10-20 mg/L. The
major transformations of phosphorus in aquatic environments are described below:
Mineralization
Assimilation.
Precipitation of Phosphorus Compounds .
Microbial Solubilization of Insoluble Forms of Phosphorus.
• Mineralization:
Organic phosphorus compounds (e.g., phytin, inositol phosphates, nucleic acids, phospholipids) are
mineralized to orthophosphate by a wide range of microorganisms that include bacteria (e.g., B.
subtilis, Arthrobacter), actinomycetes (e.g... Streptomyces), and fungi (e.g., Aspergillus,
Penicillium).Phosphatases are the enzymes responsible for degradation of phosphoruscompounds.
• Assimilation:
Microorganisms assimilate phosphorus, which enters in the composition of several macromolecules
in the cell. Some microorganisms have the ability to store phosphorus as polyphosphates in special
granules
• Precipitation of Phosphorus Compounds:
The solubility of orthophosphate is controlled by the pH of the aquatic environmentand by the
presence of Ca,Mg, Fe and Al When precipitation occurs, there is formation of insoluble compounds
such as hydroxyapatite (Cal0(PO4)6(OH)2, vivianite Fe3(PO4)2. 8H2O or variscite AIPO4 2H2O.
• Microbial Solubilization of Insoluble Forms of Phosphorus:
Through their metabolic activity, microorganisms help in the solubilization of P compounds.
The mechanisms of solubilization are metabolic processes involving:
1. Enzymes
2. production of organic and inorganic acids by microorganisms (e.g., succinic acid,oxalic
acid, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid)
3. production of CO2, which lowers pH
4. production of H2S,which may react with iron phosphate and liberate orthophosphate
5. the production of chelators, which can complex Ca, Fe, or Al.
PHOSPHATIC MINERALS
• The availability of phosphorus in an ecosystem is restricted by the rate of release of this element during
weathering.

• The release of phosphorus from apatite dissolution is a key control on ecosystem productivity.

• Little of this released phosphorus is taken by biota (organic form) whereas, large proportion reacts with other
soil minerals leading to precipitation in unavailable forms.

• Available phosphorus is found in a biogeochemical cycle in the upper soil profile , while phosphorus found at
lower depths is primarily involved in geo chemical reactions with secondary minerals.

• Plant growth depends on the rapid root uptake of phosphorus released from dead organic matter in the
biochemical cycle. Phosphorus is limited in supply for plant growth.

• Phosphates move quickly through plants and animals; however, the processes that move them through the soil or
ocean are very slow, making the phosphorus cycle overall one of the slowest biogeochemical cycles.

• Low-molecular-weight (LMW) organic acids are found in soils. They originate from the activities of various
microorganisms in soils or may be exuded from the roots of living plants
HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE PHOSPHORUS
CYCLE
• Like nitrogen, increased use of fertilizers increases phosphorus runoff into our
waterwaysand contributes to eutrophication .
• Humans have greatly influenced the P cycle by mining P, converting it to fertilizer, and by
shipping fertilizer and products around the globe .
• Transporting P in food from farms to cities has made a major change in the global Pcycle .
• Waters are enriched in P from farms run off, and from effluent that is inadequately
treatedbefore it is discharged to waters.
• Natural cutrophication is a process by which lakes gradually age and become more
productive and may take thousands of years to progress.
• Cultural or anthropogenic eutrophication, however, is water pollution caused by excessive
plant nutrients, which results in excessive growth in algae population.
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