AP®︎ Environmental Science: Topic 1.6 Flashcards

Movement of phosphorus among rocks, soil, water, organisms, and sediments through weathering, uptake, feeding, decomposition, runoff, sedimentation, rock formation, and uplift, with no significant atmospheric phase

A location where phosphorus is stored; the major long-term reservoirs are phosphorus-bearing rocks and ocean sediments

A source releases phosphorus to another part of the cycle, while a sink receives and stores it; the same reservoir can act as either

PO₄³⁻, the simplified available inorganic form in which phosphorus moves through soils, waters, and producer uptake

Weathering breaks down or alters rock in place and releases phosphate; erosion transports weathered, phosphorus-bearing material

Absorption of inorganic phosphate by producers and its incorporation into organic molecules and living tissue

Decomposition of organic phosphorus compounds that returns inorganic phosphate to soil or water

Settling of phosphorus-bearing particles or remains to lake or ocean bottoms; subsequent burial stores phosphorus in sediment and removes it from rapid circulation

Slow movement that exposes buried phosphorus-bearing rock at the surface, where later weathering can release its phosphorus

An essential nutrient whose low availability restricts producer growth or primary production; phosphorus is often limiting in freshwater and some terrestrial ecosystems