The assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use on the death of the bacteria is called what?

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Multiple Choice

The assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen by soil bacteria and its release for plant use on the death of the bacteria is called what?

The key idea is nitrogen fixation—the conversion of inert atmospheric N2 into usable forms like ammonia or ammonium by soil bacteria. These microbes, such as Rhizobium in root nodules or free-living Azotobacter, take in N2 and convert it to forms plants can use. That fixed nitrogen can then be taken up by plants, or released when the microbial cells die and decompose, adding nitrogen back into the soil as ammonium or nitrate. Denitrification would send nitrogen back to the atmosphere, nitrification is the oxidation of ammonium to nitrate, and nitrogen assimilation is uptake by plants rather than the microbial conversion of N2.

The key idea is nitrogen fixation—the conversion of inert atmospheric N2 into usable forms like ammonia or ammonium by soil bacteria. These microbes, such as Rhizobium in root nodules or free-living Azotobacter, take in N2 and convert it to forms plants can use. That fixed nitrogen can then be taken up by plants, or released when the microbial cells die and decompose, adding nitrogen back into the soil as ammonium or nitrate. Denitrification would send nitrogen back to the atmosphere, nitrification is the oxidation of ammonium to nitrate, and nitrogen assimilation is uptake by plants rather than the microbial conversion of N2.

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