amber_krontz
EcologyS21: The Teasel’s Nutrient Cycle
The photo was taken on March 22nd, 2021 at 5:50 pm at a nearby walking trail filled with recently burned prairie sections in Kildeer, IL. The plant in the picture is Dipsacus liciniatus otherwise referred to as a cutleaf teasel. The cutleaf teasel is one of a huge variety of plants that play a role in sequestration of carbon and nitrogen into the soil. This process is referred to as the nutrient cycling. Carbon and nitrogen are two important plant resources and the cutleaf teasel gathers these from the soils when the nutrients are bioavailable. The sequestration of atmospheric nitrogen being converted into ammonium, often found within the soil, is done through the process of nitrogen fixation. The cutleaf teasel can then take up the nitrogen source and convert it into nitrogen building blocks for plant proteins. The cutleaf teasel does a similar action through the absorption the CO2 from the air. It uses the uptake carbon in photosynthesis processes by converting it into organic carbons that are to be used for the plant’s growth. The rapid process from absorption, starting at sequestration of carbon gas, to organic carbon is referred to fast carbon cycle. Through those processes is the way Dipsacus liciniatus can aid in the management of green house gases.
EcologyS21: The Teasel’s Nutrient Cycle
The photo was taken on March 22nd, 2021 at 5:50 pm at a nearby walking trail filled with recently burned prairie sections in Kildeer, IL. The plant in the picture is Dipsacus liciniatus otherwise referred to as a cutleaf teasel. The cutleaf teasel is one of a huge variety of plants that play a role in sequestration of carbon and nitrogen into the soil. This process is referred to as the nutrient cycling. Carbon and nitrogen are two important plant resources and the cutleaf teasel gathers these from the soils when the nutrients are bioavailable. The sequestration of atmospheric nitrogen being converted into ammonium, often found within the soil, is done through the process of nitrogen fixation. The cutleaf teasel can then take up the nitrogen source and convert it into nitrogen building blocks for plant proteins. The cutleaf teasel does a similar action through the absorption the CO2 from the air. It uses the uptake carbon in photosynthesis processes by converting it into organic carbons that are to be used for the plant’s growth. The rapid process from absorption, starting at sequestration of carbon gas, to organic carbon is referred to fast carbon cycle. Through those processes is the way Dipsacus liciniatus can aid in the management of green house gases.