Final answer:
Every organism needs nutrients to build tissues and carry out functions, and these nutrients, along with water, pass through biogeochemical cycles like the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle.
Step-by-step explanation:
Every organism needs nutrients to build tissues and carry out life functions. Like water, nutrients pass through organisms and the environment through biogeochemical cycles. The three pathways, or cycles, that move carbon, nitrogen, and water through the biosphere are especially critical for life.
These cycles recycle the chemical elements and water that are necessary for organisms, involving both the biotic (living organisms) and abiotic (nonliving factors such as the atmosphere or ocean) components of the biosphere. Elements such as carbon and nitrogen are essential for forming organic molecules, and water is vital for all aspects of life.
Through the water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle, these substances move continuously between living things and their surroundings, driven by processes like weathering, erosion, the movement of continental plates, and biological activity by organisms, including microorganisms.