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1.5 The Nitrogen Cycle

Part of The Living World: Ecosystems in AP® Environmental Science. Read the opening section, then create a free account for the full interactive lesson, practice, and progress tracking.

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The nitrogen cycle is the movement of atoms and molecules containing the element nitrogen between sources and sinks. Nitrogen is essential for proteins, DNA and chlorophyll but most organisms can't use it directly from the air.

In this unit

11 lessons

  1. 1.1Introduction to EcosystemsPreview lesson
  2. 1.2Terrestrial BiomesPreview lesson
  3. 1.3Aquatic BiomesPreview lesson
  4. 1.4The Carbon CyclePreview lesson
  5. 1.5The Nitrogen CycleThis lesson
  6. 1.6The Phosphorus CyclePreview lesson
  7. 1.7The Hydrologic (Water) CyclePreview lesson
  8. 1.8Primary ProductivityPreview lesson
  9. 1.9Trophic LevelsPreview lesson
  10. 1.10Energy Flow and the 10% RulePreview lesson
  11. 1.11Food Chains and Food WebsPreview lesson

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