Soil organic matter
Encyclopedia
Organic matter is matter
that has come from a once-living organism
; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compound
s. The definition of organic matter varies upon the subject for which it is being used.
Organic matter is broken down organic matter that comes from plant
s and animal
s in the environment
. Organic matter is a collective term, assigned to the realm of all of this broken down organic matter. Basic structures are created from cellulose
, tannin
, cutin
, and lignin
, along with other various proteins, lipids, and sugars. It is very important in the movement of nutrients in the environment and plays a role in water retention on the surface of the planet. These two processes help to ensure the continuance of life on Earth
.
s, animals, plants, and microorganism
s. After the living matter dies, it decomposes. The organic matter from them and their excretions is broken down through an unknown reactive process into natural organic matter. Larger molecules of organic matter can be formed from the polymerization of different parts of already broken down matter. The relative size, shape, and composition of a molecule
of organic matter is very random. "NOM can vary greatly, depending on its origin, transformation mode, age, and existing environment, thus its bio-physico-chemical functions and cheese vary with different environments."
. After degrading and reacting, it can then move into soil
and mainstream water
via waterflow. NOM forms molecules that contain nutrients as it passes through soil and water. It provides nutrition to living plant and animal species. NOM acts as a buffer
, when in aqueous solution, to maintain a less acidic pH in the environment. Little is known why this occurs but research shows the buffer acting component to be crucial to wean away the cheese of acid rain
.
Note that one source of groundwater is soil organic matter
and sedimentary organic matter
. The major method of movement into soil is from groundwater, but NOM from soil moves into groundwater as well. Most of the NOM in lakes, rivers, and surfaced water areas comes from deteriorated material in the water and surrounding shores. However, NOM can pass into or out of water to soil and sediment in the same respect as with the soil.
. Furthermore, this shows there are no independent processes in the environment, which means everything is connected in some regard. Physical, biological, and chemical systems work together to create natural processes.
derives from plants and animals. In a forest, for example, leaf litter and woody material falls to the forest floor. This is sometimes referred to as organic material. When it decays to the point in which it is no longer recognizable it is called soil organic matter. When the organic matter has broken down into a stable substance that resist further decomposition it is called humus. Thus soil organic matter comprises all of the organic matter in the soil exclusive of the material that has not decayed.
One of the advantages of humus is that it is able to withhold water and nutrients, therefore giving plants the capacity for growth. Another advantage of humus is that it helps the soil to stick together which allows nematodes, or microscopic bacteria, to easily decay the nutrients in the soil.
There are several ways to quickly increase the amount of humus. Combining compost, plant or animal materials/waste, or green manure with soil will increase the amount of humus in the soil.
These three materials supply nematodes and bacteria with nutrients for them to thrive and produce more humus, which will give plants enough nutrients to survive and grow.
s, are usually not considered organic material, due to their poor ability to decompose. A clam's shell, while biotic
, would not be considered organic matter by this definition because of its inability to decay.
s or carbon
, and so are only an approximation of the level of once-living or decomposed matter. Some definitions of organic matter likewise only consider "organic matter" to refer to only the carbon content, or organic compound
s, and do not consider the origins or decomposition of the matter. In this sense, not all organic compounds are created by living organisms, and living organisms do not only leave behind organic material. A clam's shell, for example, while biotic
, does not contain much organic carbon, so may not be considered organic matter in this sense. Conversely, urea
is one of many organic compounds that can be synthesized without any biological activity.
Very little is currently known about natural organic material. Scientists are unable to crystallize it. This is important because once you can crystallize the material, it can be isolated and studied with x-ray crystallography
. This method is standard for determining unknown compounds. NOM has not been characterized either and no unique structure is known. The best way to characterize NOM is by discovering chemical, physical, and thermodynamic properties of the matter. Analytical techniques are currently being discovered to allow this to happen. The only information scientists have is that NOM is heterogeneous and very complex. Generally, NOM, in terms of weight, is:
The molecular weights of these compounds can vary drastically, depending on if they repolymerize or not, from 200-20,000 amu(4). It is also important to know that 10-35% of the carbon
present forms aromatic rings. These rings are very stable due to resonance stabilization, so they are difficult to break down. The aromatic rings are also susceptible to electrophilic and nucleophilic attack from other electron-donating or electron-accepting material, which explains the possible polymerization to create larger molecules of NOM.
There are also reactions that occur with NOM and other material in the soil to create compounds never seen before. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to characterize these because so little is known about natural organic matter in the first place. Research is currently being done to figure out more about these new compounds and how many of them are being formed.
, which essentially breaks down water filtration systems in water purification facilities. The larger molecules clog the water purification filters intended to keep material like that out of drinking water. The fact that these byproducts are removed through purification is very good news, but having to replace filters constantly to maintain effectiveness is costly for water treatment businesses. This byproduct problem could be treated by the disinfection technique known as chlorination
, which often breaks down residual material clogging systems, but research has shown that the natural organic matter also forms byproducts with this method.
showed proof that water with natural organic matter could be disinfected with ozone-initiated radical reactions. The ozone
(three oxygens) has very strong oxidation characteristics. It can form hydroxyl radicals (OH) when it decomposes, which will react with the natural organic matter to shut down the problem of biofouling. The article did this on a very small scale of water and natural organic matter, so further research is being done to scale up the reaction. This journal article does show that solutions are on the horizon to prevent our water purification systems from being broken down by NOM.
. Most of this is because of electrostatic charge, which says that opposite charges are attracted and like charges are repelled. If you have oxygens (with a negative charge in theory) bonded to carbons next to each other, they will want to be as far away from each other as possible. Also, a larger molecule like oxygen (relative to carbon) does not want to attach to a carbon that already has oxygens on it when it could attach to a carbon without oxygens on it.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as varying the temperature at which these reactions occur. As the temperature becomes much higher, there is a better chance that an unfavorable reaction will occur because molecules move around faster increasing the randomness of the system (entropy
). Yet, as we consider the cold water in the natural environment, it is logical to see that all the oxygen in the water will not be consumed by NOM.
of oxygen and each mole of oxygen has 6.022x10^23 oxygen molecules. Multiplying 7.399*10^22 moles by 6.022*10^23 molecules/mole gives 4.456*10^46 oxygen molecules in the liquid water on the surface of the planet. (Please note this is an estimate taken from average data.)
NOM is not going to use up all the oxygen on the earth and remove water.
that attributed a special force to life that alone could create organic substances. This idea was first questioned after the artificial synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler
in 1828.
Compare with:
Matter
Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume...
that has come from a once-living organism
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compound
Organic compound
An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
s. The definition of organic matter varies upon the subject for which it is being used.
Organic matter is broken down organic matter that comes from plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s in the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
. Organic matter is a collective term, assigned to the realm of all of this broken down organic matter. Basic structures are created from cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
, tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
, cutin
Cutin
Cutin is one of two waxy polymers that are the main components of the plant cuticle, which covers all aerial surfaces of plants. The other major cuticle polymer is cutan, which is much more readily preserved in the fossil record,...
, and lignin
Lignin
Lignin or lignen is a complex chemical compound most commonly derived from wood, and an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants and some algae. The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood...
, along with other various proteins, lipids, and sugars. It is very important in the movement of nutrients in the environment and plays a role in water retention on the surface of the planet. These two processes help to ensure the continuance of life on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
How Organic Matter is created
All living and growing matter on this planet contains organic components. Different types of matter include humanHuman
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s, animals, plants, and microorganism
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
s. After the living matter dies, it decomposes. The organic matter from them and their excretions is broken down through an unknown reactive process into natural organic matter. Larger molecules of organic matter can be formed from the polymerization of different parts of already broken down matter. The relative size, shape, and composition of a molecule
Molecule
A molecule is an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms held together by covalent chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from ions by their electrical charge...
of organic matter is very random. "NOM can vary greatly, depending on its origin, transformation mode, age, and existing environment, thus its bio-physico-chemical functions and cheese vary with different environments."
Natural ecosystem functions
Natural organic matter is present throughout the ecosystemEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. After degrading and reacting, it can then move into soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
and mainstream water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
via waterflow. NOM forms molecules that contain nutrients as it passes through soil and water. It provides nutrition to living plant and animal species. NOM acts as a buffer
Buffer solution
A buffer solution is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid. It has the property that the pH of the solution changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is added to it. Buffer solutions are used as a...
, when in aqueous solution, to maintain a less acidic pH in the environment. Little is known why this occurs but research shows the buffer acting component to be crucial to wean away the cheese of acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
.
Source cycle
A majority of NOM not already in the soil comes from groundwater, which is water under the surface of the earth. When the groundwater saturates the soil or sediment around it, NOM can freely move between the phases. But, the groundwater has its own sources of natural organic matter too:- "organic matter deposits, such as kerogenKerogenKerogen is a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks. It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of the huge molecular weight of its component compounds. The soluble portion is known as bitumen. When heated to the right...
and coalCoalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure... - soil and sediment organic matter
- organic matter infiltrating into the subsurface from rivers, lakes, and marine systems"
Note that one source of groundwater is soil organic matter
Soil organic matter
Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds...
and sedimentary organic matter
Sedimentary organic matter
Sedimentary organic matter includes the carbonaceous component of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The organic matter is usually a component of sedimentary material even if it is present in low abundance . Petroleum and natural gas are particular examples of sedimentary organic matter...
. The major method of movement into soil is from groundwater, but NOM from soil moves into groundwater as well. Most of the NOM in lakes, rivers, and surfaced water areas comes from deteriorated material in the water and surrounding shores. However, NOM can pass into or out of water to soil and sediment in the same respect as with the soil.
Importance of the cycle
Natural organic matter uses all these different phases (soil, sediment, water,and groundwater) to move throughout the environment. This action of movement creates a cycle. Things decompose into NOM, travel through water flow or soil, and then are free to spread through the phases. If it were not for this cycle, important nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, and metals would not be as easily spread throughout the surface of the EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Furthermore, this shows there are no independent processes in the environment, which means everything is connected in some regard. Physical, biological, and chemical systems work together to create natural processes.
Soil organic matter
The organic matter in soilSoil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
derives from plants and animals. In a forest, for example, leaf litter and woody material falls to the forest floor. This is sometimes referred to as organic material. When it decays to the point in which it is no longer recognizable it is called soil organic matter. When the organic matter has broken down into a stable substance that resist further decomposition it is called humus. Thus soil organic matter comprises all of the organic matter in the soil exclusive of the material that has not decayed.
One of the advantages of humus is that it is able to withhold water and nutrients, therefore giving plants the capacity for growth. Another advantage of humus is that it helps the soil to stick together which allows nematodes, or microscopic bacteria, to easily decay the nutrients in the soil.
There are several ways to quickly increase the amount of humus. Combining compost, plant or animal materials/waste, or green manure with soil will increase the amount of humus in the soil.
- Compost: Decomposed organic material.
- Plant and animal material and waste: Dead plants or plant waste such as leaves or bush and tree trimmings, or animal manure.
- Green manure: Plants or plant material that is grown for the sole purpose of being incorporated with soil.
These three materials supply nematodes and bacteria with nutrients for them to thrive and produce more humus, which will give plants enough nutrients to survive and grow.
Decay
Organic matter may be defined as material that is capable of decay, or the product of decay (humus), or both. Usually the matter will be the remains of recently living organisms, and may also include still-living organisms. Polymers and plastics, although they may be organic compoundOrganic compound
An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
s, are usually not considered organic material, due to their poor ability to decompose. A clam's shell, while biotic
Biotic material
Biotic material or biological derived material is any natural material that is originated from living organisms. Most such materials contain carbon and are capable of decay....
, would not be considered organic matter by this definition because of its inability to decay.
Organic chemistry
Measurements of organic matter generally measure only organic compoundOrganic compound
An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
s or carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
, and so are only an approximation of the level of once-living or decomposed matter. Some definitions of organic matter likewise only consider "organic matter" to refer to only the carbon content, or organic compound
Organic compound
An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
s, and do not consider the origins or decomposition of the matter. In this sense, not all organic compounds are created by living organisms, and living organisms do not only leave behind organic material. A clam's shell, for example, while biotic
Biotic material
Biotic material or biological derived material is any natural material that is originated from living organisms. Most such materials contain carbon and are capable of decay....
, does not contain much organic carbon, so may not be considered organic matter in this sense. Conversely, urea
Urea
Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO2. The molecule has two —NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl functional group....
is one of many organic compounds that can be synthesized without any biological activity.
Very little is currently known about natural organic material. Scientists are unable to crystallize it. This is important because once you can crystallize the material, it can be isolated and studied with x-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...
. This method is standard for determining unknown compounds. NOM has not been characterized either and no unique structure is known. The best way to characterize NOM is by discovering chemical, physical, and thermodynamic properties of the matter. Analytical techniques are currently being discovered to allow this to happen. The only information scientists have is that NOM is heterogeneous and very complex. Generally, NOM, in terms of weight, is:
- 45-55% CarbonCarbonCarbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
- 35-45% OxygenOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
- 3-5% HydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
- 1-4% NitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
The molecular weights of these compounds can vary drastically, depending on if they repolymerize or not, from 200-20,000 amu(4). It is also important to know that 10-35% of the carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
present forms aromatic rings. These rings are very stable due to resonance stabilization, so they are difficult to break down. The aromatic rings are also susceptible to electrophilic and nucleophilic attack from other electron-donating or electron-accepting material, which explains the possible polymerization to create larger molecules of NOM.
There are also reactions that occur with NOM and other material in the soil to create compounds never seen before. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to characterize these because so little is known about natural organic matter in the first place. Research is currently being done to figure out more about these new compounds and how many of them are being formed.
Water purification
The same capability of natural organic matter that helped with water retention in soil creates problems for current water purification methods. In water, NOM can still bind to metal ions and minerals. These bound molecules are not necessarily stopped by the purification process, but do not cause harm to any humans, animals, or plants. However, because of the high level of reactivity of natural organic matter, byproducts that do not contain nutrients can be made. These byproducts are much larger and can induce biofoulingBiofouling
Biofouling or biological fouling is the undesirable accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or animals on wetted structures.-Impact:...
, which essentially breaks down water filtration systems in water purification facilities. The larger molecules clog the water purification filters intended to keep material like that out of drinking water. The fact that these byproducts are removed through purification is very good news, but having to replace filters constantly to maintain effectiveness is costly for water treatment businesses. This byproduct problem could be treated by the disinfection technique known as chlorination
Chlorination
Chlorination is the process of adding the element chlorine to water as a method of water purification to make it fit for human consumption as drinking water...
, which often breaks down residual material clogging systems, but research has shown that the natural organic matter also forms byproducts with this method.
Potential solutions
A large breakthrough could be underway after a paper published in the Applied and Environmental Microbiology journalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Applied and Environmental Microbiology is a online and print bimonthly academic journal published by the American Society for Microbiology. The title is commonly abbreviated AEM and the ISSN is 0099-2240 for the print version, and 1098-5336 for the electronic version...
showed proof that water with natural organic matter could be disinfected with ozone-initiated radical reactions. The ozone
Ozone
Ozone , or trioxygen, is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope...
(three oxygens) has very strong oxidation characteristics. It can form hydroxyl radicals (OH) when it decomposes, which will react with the natural organic matter to shut down the problem of biofouling. The article did this on a very small scale of water and natural organic matter, so further research is being done to scale up the reaction. This journal article does show that solutions are on the horizon to prevent our water purification systems from being broken down by NOM.
False positives
Many water quality groups, such as the North Carolina State University Water Quality Group, believe that having too much natural organic material will cause deoxygenation and essentially remove oxygen from the water. Although organic material, which consists of many hydrocarbon and cyclic carbon chains, is susceptible to attack by oxygen, it would be sterically unfavorable to attach oxygens to every single carbon. Basically, molecules do not enjoy other molecules being too close to them when they have the same electronegativityElectronegativity
Electronegativity, symbol χ , is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom or a functional group to attract electrons towards itself. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the distance that its valence electrons reside from the charged nucleus...
. Most of this is because of electrostatic charge, which says that opposite charges are attracted and like charges are repelled. If you have oxygens (with a negative charge in theory) bonded to carbons next to each other, they will want to be as far away from each other as possible. Also, a larger molecule like oxygen (relative to carbon) does not want to attach to a carbon that already has oxygens on it when it could attach to a carbon without oxygens on it.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as varying the temperature at which these reactions occur. As the temperature becomes much higher, there is a better chance that an unfavorable reaction will occur because molecules move around faster increasing the randomness of the system (entropy
Entropy
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
). Yet, as we consider the cold water in the natural environment, it is logical to see that all the oxygen in the water will not be consumed by NOM.
Estimate of oxygen in surface water
This can be proved numerically. The approximate volume of liquid water on the Earth is 1.333*10^9 km³, or 1.333*10^24 milliliters. Since the density of water is roughly 1g/mL, this is 1.333*10^24 grams of water. Dividing this number by 18.02 grams per mole gives 7.399*10^22 moles of water. Each mole of water has one moleMole (unit)
The mole is a unit of measurement used in chemistry to express amounts of a chemical substance, defined as an amount of a substance that contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 12 grams of pure carbon-12 , the isotope of carbon with atomic weight 12. This corresponds to a value...
of oxygen and each mole of oxygen has 6.022x10^23 oxygen molecules. Multiplying 7.399*10^22 moles by 6.022*10^23 molecules/mole gives 4.456*10^46 oxygen molecules in the liquid water on the surface of the planet. (Please note this is an estimate taken from average data.)
NOM is not going to use up all the oxygen on the earth and remove water.
Vitalism
The equation of "organic" with living organisms comes from the now-abandoned idea of vitalismVitalism
Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is#a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions...
that attributed a special force to life that alone could create organic substances. This idea was first questioned after the artificial synthesis of urea by Friedrich Wöhler
Friedrich Wöhler
Friedrich Wöhler was a German chemist, best known for his synthesis of urea, but also the first to isolate several chemical elements.-Biography:He was born in Eschersheim, which belonged to aau...
in 1828.
See also
- Biofact (biology)Biofact (biology)In biology, a biofact is dead material of a once-living organism.In 1943, the protozoologist Bruno M. Klein of Vienna coined the term in his article Biofakt und Artefakt in the microscopy journal Mikrokosmos, though at that time it was not adopted by the scientific community...
- BiomassBiomassBiomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
- DetritusDetritus (biology)In biology, detritus is non-living particulate organic material . It typically includes the bodies or fragments of dead organisms as well as fecal material. Detritus is typically colonized by communities of microorganisms which act to decompose the material...
- Humus
- Organic geochemistryOrganic geochemistryOrganic geochemistry is the study of the impacts and processes that organisms have had on the Earth. The study of organic geochemistry is usually traced to the work of Alfred E. Treibs, "the father of organic geochemistry." Treibs first isolated metalloporphyrins from petroleum. This discovery...
- Sedimentary organic matterSedimentary organic matterSedimentary organic matter includes the carbonaceous component of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The organic matter is usually a component of sedimentary material even if it is present in low abundance . Petroleum and natural gas are particular examples of sedimentary organic matter...
- Total organic carbonTotal organic carbonTotal organic carbon is the amount of carbon bound in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment....
Compare with:
- Biotic materialBiotic materialBiotic material or biological derived material is any natural material that is originated from living organisms. Most such materials contain carbon and are capable of decay....
- Biological tissueBiological tissueTissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning...
- BiomoleculeBiomoleculeA biomolecule is any molecule that is produced by a living organism, including large polymeric molecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, and nucleic acids as well as small molecules such as primary metabolites, secondary metabolites, and natural products...
- Cellular componentCellular componentCellular component refers to the unique, highly organized substances and substances of which cells, and thus living organisms, are composed. Examples include membranes, organelles, proteins, and nucleic acids...
- Organic production