Question

what nitrogen fixation is and its role in how nitrogen gets into the food web in the first place.

Answer 1

Nitrogen fixation:

Atmospheric nitrogen cannot be used by the plants or animals. These atmospheric nitrogen must be transformed into soluble form which then can be absorbed by the plants the primary producer. The process by which the atmospheric nitrogen transformed into ammonia in the soil by natural or bacteria is called the nitrogen fixation.

Every year a lot of atsmopheric nitrogen is transformed into ammonia or nitrate by the lighting or by the diazotrophs. Diazotrophs are bacterias such as acetobacter, nitrobacter etc.

At first the athmospheric nitrogen is transformed into ammonia and fixed in the soil. Further the ammonia is transformed into nitrate. This nitrate and ammonia are essential to make plant amino acids.

Role of nitrogen fixation in food web:

Plant is the primary producer . Plant makes protein for their development from the nitrogen. But plant cannot use atmospheric nitrogen directly. Here the nitrogen fixation plays the main role.

Atmospheric nitrogen transformed into ammonia or nitrate and fixed in the soil. Plant with their roots absorb the usable form of nitrogen and makes protein. When we eat the plants or other animals which eats the plant the nitrogen transfer to us.

Thus nitrogen fixation plays an important role to enter the atmospheric nitrogen into the food web in the first place.

If nitrogen fixation doesnot occur we donot have plant protein and plant cannot survive.