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Soil Organic Matter and Aerobic Respiration

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Bottom Soils, Sediment, and Pond Aquaculture

Abstract

The primary source of organic matter in nature is photosynthesis by green plants. In photosynthesis, energy of sunlight is captured by plant pigments and used as an energy source to reduce inorganic carbon of CO2 to organic carbon of simple sugars. Solar energy is transformed by photochemical reactions in plant cells to chemical energy of chemical compounds. Oxygen is released as a by-product. The summary reaction is

$$ 6C{O_2} + 6{H_2}O\xrightarrow[{green\;plants}]{{light}}{C_6}{H_{{12}}}{O_2} $$
(5.1)

Chemoautotrophic bacteria also reduce carbon dioxide to organic matter. For example, nitrifying bacteria use energy released in the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate and reduce CO2 to organic carbon of carbohydrate. On a global basis, the amount of organic matter synthesized by chemoautotrophy is very small in comparison with the quantity produced by photosynthesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Auburn University, Alabama, USA

    Claude E. Boyd

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  1. Claude E. Boyd
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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Boyd, C.E. (1995). Soil Organic Matter and Aerobic Respiration. In: Bottom Soils, Sediment, and Pond Aquaculture. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1785-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1785-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5720-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1785-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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