Hi! I\'m doing a chapter on the Biogeochemical Cycles. The section that I\'m hav

Question

Hi! I'm doing a chapter on the Biogeochemical Cycles. The section that I'm having trouble with is on the Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycles. The question is: Humans can affect the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in various ways. Check all that apply:

1) A decrease in phosphate-rich laundry and dish detergents will likely result in decrease eutrophication and, thus, decreased algal blooms in nearby waterways

2)  Minimizing the use of ammonia-rich fertilizers on lawns would not add excess nitrogen to the nitrogen cycle. As a result, it would help decrease the pollution of food webs in the oceans, decrease soil acidity on land, and decrease the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

3) When phosphorous is not bound in rocks, it moves quickly through land food webs. Constant use of phosphate-rich fertilizers will help increase phosphorus availability to plants, thus ultimately helping our ecosystems

Explanation / Answer

Eutrophication or hypertrophication is almost always induced by the discharge of phosphate containing detergents, fertilizers, or sewage, into an aquatic system. Hence a decrease in phosphate-rich laundry and dish detergents will likely result in decrease eutrophication and, thus, decreased algal blooms in nearby waterways. Therefore 1) will be applied.

Ammonia present is fertilizers runoff to various water bodies and thus pollute the food webs in ocean apart from this fertilizers also increases the soil acidity and overload of fertilizer, soil microbes on farms may belch unexpectedly high levels of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with 300 times as much heat-trapping power as carbon dioxide. Hence, minimizing the use of ammonia-rich fertilizers on lawns will decrease these issues. Therefore 2) will be applied.

Naturally phosphorous is bound in rocks and it is not easy to access this bounded phosphorous rain and weathering of rocks cause the release of phosphate ions, these are then distributed in soils and water but if we constantly phosphate-rich fertilizers then this mismanagement of soil P can pose a threat to water quality. The concentration of P is usually sufficiently low in fresh water so that algae growth is limited. When lakes and rivers receive amounts of P that exceed their background levels, excessive growth of algae often occurs. Increased levels of algae reduce water clarity and can lead to decreases in available dissolved oxygen as the algae decay. These conditions can be very detrimental too much of the aquatic life and can limit the recreational use of lakes such as game fishing and other water activities. Therefore 3) will not be applied.

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