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What would happen if denitrification stopped?

seo-qna
Last updated date: 06th Sep 2024
Total views: 353.7k
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Answer
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Hint: Nitrification is the process by which nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite and eventually to nitrate. Chemoautotrophic bacteria carry out the process, which is an aerobic process. Nitrosomonas and Nitrococcus are bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite. Nitrobacter further oxidized nitrite to nitrate. Nitrate is taken and utilized by plants.

Complete answer:
The nitrogen cycle is the process of nitrification and denitrification that regulates nitrogen levels in the atmosphere.
Nitrites and nitrates are transformed to nitrogen in the atmosphere by denitrification. Nitrogen is not returned to the atmosphere without denitrification, therefore it is contained and not recycled.
Excess nitrogen is bound and not available for biological processes to take place.
Nitrogen will not be made accessible to plants in usable forms (ammonia and nitrate), limiting their growth and development. Because plants are main producers, this can have an impact on the entire food chain. Free nitrogen is then transformed to nucleotides, amino acids, proteins, and other nitrogenous substances through fixation. These important compounds, which are essential for functional and structural growth of entities, will not be created if fixation and hence denitrification do not occur.
The majority of species will be unable to utilize nitrogen from the atmosphere directly. These chemicals, which are required for structural and functional growth of organisms, will not be generated in the absence of the nitrogen fixation process.
Denitrification is a reduction of \[N{O_3}^ - \to N{O_2}^ - \to NO \to {N_2}O \to {N_2}\] gas by bacteria under anaerobic circumstances, most commonly in microbial mats and sediments.

Note:
Nitrification and denitrification in wastewater treatment-
The untreated home wastewater contains ammonia. Nitrification is a biological, microbial process that allows ammonia to be converted from nitrite to nitrate and then back to ammonia. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria oxidize ammonia to nitrite in the first stage (most commonly Nitrosomonas is involved in this step). Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria oxidize nitrite to nitrate in the next stage ((most commonly Nitrobacter is engaged in this phase).
Nitrates are converted to gaseous nitrogen through the process of denitrification, which is carried out by facultative anaerobes. Because they break down oxygen-containing molecules to obtain oxygen, these anaerobes (fungi) may grow in anoxic circumstances. Nitrogen can then exist in a variety of forms.