Biogeochemical cycle, any of the natural pathways by which essential elements of living matter are circulated. The term biogeochemical is a contraction that refers to the consideration of the biological, geological, and chemical aspects of each cycle.
Elements within biogeochemical cycles flow in various forms from the nonliving (abiotic) components of the biosphere to the living (biotic) components and back. In order for the living components of a major ecosystem (e.g., a lake or a forest) to survive, all the chemical elements that make up living cells must be recycled continuously. Each biogeochemical cycle can be considered as having a reservoir (nutrient) pool—a larger, slow-moving, usually abiotic portion—and an exchange (cycling) pool—a smaller but more-active portion concerned with the rapid exchange between the biotic and abiotic aspects of an ecosystem.
Biogeochemical cycles can be classed as gaseous, in which the reservoir is the air or the oceans (via evaporation), and sedimentary, in which the reservoir is Earth’s crust. Gaseous cycles include those of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and water; sedimentary cycles include those of iron, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, and other more-earthbound elements.
Gaseous cycles tend to move more rapidly than do sedimentary ones and to adjust more readily to changes in the biosphere because of the large atmospheric reservoir. Local accumulations of carbon dioxide (CO2), for example, are soon dissipated by winds or taken up by plants. Extraordinary disturbances (such as global warming) and more-frequent local disturbances (such as wildfires and storm-driven events) can, however, seriously affect the capacity for self-adjustment.
Sedimentary cycles vary from one element to another, but each cycle consists fundamentally of a solution (or water-related) phase and a rock (or sediment) phase. In the solution phase, weathering releases minerals from Earth’s crust in the form of salts, some of which dissolve in water, pass through a series of organisms, and ultimately reach the deep seas, where they settle out of circulation indefinitely. In the rock phase, other salts deposit out as sediment and rock in shallow seas, eventually to be weathered and recycled.
Plants and some animals obtain their nutrient needs from solutions in the environment. Other animals acquire the bulk of their needs from the plants and animals that they consume. After the death of an organism, the elements fixed in its body are returned to the environment through the action of decomposers (decay organisms such as bacteria, insects, and fungi) and become available to other living organisms again.