Human impact on the phosphorus cycle, Biology

Assignment Help:

Human Impact on the Phosphorus Cycle

Like other biogeochemical cycles, human activities have altered the phosphorus cycle. Human beings mine phosphate rocks and guano deposits to make phosphorus available for production of fertilisers, detergents, animal feed, medicines, pesticide: and numerous other products. This mining exposes phosphate deposits made over millions of years. Phosphates are removed from soil through cropping of vegetation and to replace it phosphate fertilisers have to be added. Because of the abundance of calcium, iron and aluminium in the soil much of the phosphates get immobilised as insoluble salts. Thus more fertilisers have to be added. This results in high concentration of phosphates in agricultural runoffs. Similarly concentration of phosphorus in detergents, wastes of food processing plants, animal feed lot, sewage, etc., add to a considerable quantity of phosphorus poured in natural waters.

This problem becomes acute in urban areas. As said earlier, in aquatic ecosystems the phosphorus is taken up rapidly by the vegetation resulting in a sudden explosive growth of algae. Like nitrogen, this leads to cultural eutrophication of the water body. The producers cloud the water and forms a scum on the surface, blocking sunlight for the submerged plants. This is one example of the result of accumulation of nutrients at one stage of the nutrient cycle. It is important to note that the means of returning phosphorus to the cycle are inadequate to compensate for the loss. Sea birds have traditionally played-an important part in returning phosphorus to the cycle via their droppings (for example guano deposits off the coast of Peru) but apparently not at the rate at which it has occurred in the past. Unfortunately human activities appear to hasten the rate at which phosphorus is lost and thus make the cycle 'less perfect'. You could think our present use of phosphorus which is washed out into the rivers and finally into the oceans as an accelerated 'pouring' of phosphorus from the source to the sink.


Related Discussions:- Human impact on the phosphorus cycle

How do taenias classify according to the division of sexes, How do taenias ...

How do taenias classify according to the division of sexes? Taenias are monoecious (hermaphrodite), the similar individual has female and male reproductive organs and undergoes

What are the distinct types of proteins, Distinct types of proteins T...

Distinct types of proteins Two distinct types of proteins are known: fibrous and globular proteins. Fibrous proteins are insoluble in water and are physically tough, which

Explain the elimination of dna helicase activity in a cell, Which of the fo...

Which of the following results from the elimination of DNA helicase activity in a cell? A. The melting of the DNA double helix at the site of replication initiation will fail t

Tagmatization, sample assignment on tagmatizatio

sample assignment on tagmatizatio

What vector foce does particle b then exert on a, A charged particle A exer...

A charged particle A exerts a force of 2.39uN to the right on charged particle B when the particles are 12.3 mm apart. Particle B moves straight away from A to make the distance be

Haccp is a food-related operation, HACCP  is a food-related operation to: ...

HACCP  is a food-related operation to: A) Identify and assess hazard at every stage of operation, right from start to finish B) Determine the critical control points C) E

Describe about defecation reflex, Q. Describe about defecation reflex? ...

Q. Describe about defecation reflex? An example of a reflex having an autonomic (and somatic) component is the DEFECATION REFLEX: The rectum is generally empty, but when fec

Corpus luteum in human females.., what is the fate of corpus luteum if egg...

what is the fate of corpus luteum if egg gets fertilised ?

Describe how the international astronomical union defines, Describe how the...

Describe how the International Astronomical Union defines a planet. Also include why Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Define the first step to envision the pattern of deformation, Define the fi...

Define the first step to envision the pattern of deformation. The first step in the analysis is to envision the pattern of deformation that would accompany such a failure. In t

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd