Introduction

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Nitrogen is essential to the growth and development of plants and other organisms in the environment (Argonne National Laboratory, 2005). However this colorless, odorless gas cannot be used by plants or any other complex life in its neutral form ( Killpack and Buchholz, 1993).  Specialized soil bacteria add H20 to the nitrogen, converting it into ammonia (NH3) in a process called nitrogen fixation. Other soil bacteria then convert the ammonia into nitrites (N02) which nitrites are then transformed into nitrates (N03) in a process called Nitrification.  The plants soak up the nitrate into their roots to create amino acids and nucleic acids, the vital building blocks of all life and these chemicals then move through the food chain where they are recycled through decomposition and the process repeats itself (Brewer, Kelley-Brown, Moats, and Wiltgen, n.d). Hence the nitrogen cycle is critical to the well-being of plants and soil.

 The flow of the nitrogen cycle is greatly influenced by bacteria. The efficacy of bacteria significantly depends on the behavior of protozoa. Protozoa are the natural predators of bacteria, and have an inverse relationship, meaning that as protozoa numbers increase the amount of bacteria decreases (Valentino and Ingham, 2011). Furthermore the amount of water in the soil affects the relationship between protozoa and bacteria (Ingham, 2011). Since more water in the soil increases protozoa mobility, the protozoa can hunt the bacteria much faster. As the protozoa consume the bacteria they also force them to reproduce much faster (Ingham, 2011). Water therefore significantly changes the levels of bacteria and protozoa which in turn influence the amount of fixed nitrogen available to all organisms in the ecosystem. Since Water influences the productivity in the bacteria in the soil, it indirectly affects many other elements including nitrogen. By changing the amount of water in the soil, the nitrogen levels and bacteria and protozoa density change as well.