Term
|
Definition
| Movement or cycling of nutrients through components of ecosystems. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Recycling of nutrients within a plant. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Breakdown of complex organic substances into simpler ones. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Microbial breakdown of humus and other organic matter in soil to inorganic substances. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Conversion of an element from inorganic to organic form in microbial or plant tissue, rendering the nutrient unavailable to other organisms. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Difference between the rates of mineralization and immobilization. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Ratio of carbon to nitrogen; a widely used index of tissue quality. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Pathway of an element or nutrient through the ecosystem, from assimilation by organisms to release by decomposition. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In flowing-water ecosystems, the combined processes of nutrient cycling and downstream transport. |
|
|
