Phosphorus cycle

Phosphorus cycle, the cycling and recycling of phosphorus in the living world, or biosphere. Phosphates (the natural occurring salt-form of phosphorus) are absorbed by plant life and later released into the atmosphere and the sea. In time, decayed matter containing phosphates returns to the soil. In this way phosphorus, a substance necessary for life, works its way through the living matter of the earth.

See also: Phosphorus.