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| The circulation of substances through living organisms from or to the environment |
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| biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals |
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| the sequence of conditions through which water passes from vapor in the atmosphere through precipitation upon land or water surfaces and ultimately back into the atmosphere as a result of evaporation and transpiration |
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| water within the earth especially that supplies wells and springs |
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| the act or process or an instance of transpiring; especially : the passage of watery vapor from a living body (as of a plant) through a membrane or pores |
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| to convert into vapor; also : to dissipate or draw off in vapor or fumes |
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| the cycle of carbon in the earth's ecosystems in which carbon dioxide is fixed by photosynthetic organisms to form organic nutrients and is ultimately restored to the inorganic state (as by respiration, protoplasmic decay, or combustion) |
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| a chemical reaction involving union between molecules often with elimination of a simple molecule (as water) to form a new more complex compound of often greater molecular weight |
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| a continuous series of natural processes by which nitrogen passes successively from air to soil to organisms and back to air or soil involving principally nitrogen fixation, nitrification, decay, and denitrification |
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| the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a combined form (as ammonia) through chemical and especially biological action (as that of soil rhizobia) |
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| the oxidation (as by bacteria) of ammonium salts to nitrites and the further oxidation of nitrites to nitrates |
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| the loss or removal of nitrogen or nitrogen compounds; specifically : reduction of nitrates or nitrites commonly by bacteria (as in soil) that usually results in the escape of nitrogen into the air |
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| usually rapid chemical process (as oxidation) that produces heat and usually light |
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| a deposit on the earth of hail, mist, rain, sleet, or snow; also : the quantity of water deposited |
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