This is part of the decaying process. When a plant or animal dies, decomposers like fungi and bacteria turn the nitrogen back into ammonium so it can reenter the nitrogen cycle.
(6.7.1) ⏰Do Now : Nitrogen CycleFixationFixation
This is the process by which ammonium gets changed intonitrates(NO3-) by bacteria. Nitrates are what the plants can then absorb.
Denitrification
This is how plants get nitrogen. They absorb nitrates from the soil into their roots. Then the nitrogen gets used inamino acids(proteins), nucleic acids (DNA), and chlorophyll.
Fixation is the first step in the process of making nitrogen usable by plants. Here bacteria change nitrogen into ammonium (NH3).
Extra nitrogen in the soil gets put back out into the air. There are special bacteria that perform this task as well.