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Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come from the feces and remains of organisms such as plants and animals . [ 1 ]
Examples include iron, essential to hemoglobin; and magnesium, essential to chlorophyll. Some elements are essential only to certain taxonomic groups of organisms, particularly the prokaryotes. For instance, the lanthanide series rare earths are essential for methanogens. As shown in the following table, there is strong evidence that 19 of the ...
Some biotic material may not be considered to be organic matter if it is low in organic compounds, such as a clam's shell, which is an essential component of the exoskeleton of bivalve mollusks made of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3), but contains little organic carbon.
Biomass, living or dead biological matter, often plants grown as fuel; Biomass (ecology), the total mass of living matter in a given environment, or of a given species; Body fluid, any liquid originating from inside the bodies of living people; Cellular component, material and substances of which cells (and thus living organisms) are composed
Carbon is a primary component of all known life on Earth, and represents approximately 45–50% of all dry biomass. [1] Carbon compounds occur naturally in great abundance on Earth. Complex biological molecules consist of carbon atoms bonded with other elements , especially oxygen and hydrogen and frequently also nitrogen , phosphorus , and ...
For example, matter from terrestrial autotrophs are both biotic and accessible to other organisms whereas the matter in rocks and minerals are abiotic and inaccessible. A biogeochemical cycle is a pathway by which specific elements of matter are turned over or moved through the biotic ( biosphere ) and the abiotic ( lithosphere , atmosphere ...
A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, [1] is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle , the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle .
The metals copper, zinc, iron, and manganese are examples of metals that are essential for the normal functioning of most plants and the bodies of most animals, such as the human body. A few ( calcium , potassium , sodium ) are present in relatively larger amounts, whereas most others are trace metals , present in smaller but important amounts ...