Nitrogen in the environment : nitrogen's most common forms

Harvested by the University of Missouri Extension website."Nitrogen is important for all plants to live, and it comes in many forms. Although the atmosphere is mostly made up of nitrogen, it is in the form of a gas known as dinitrogen N2. Plants cannot use this form. Dinitrogen, or atmospheric nitrogen, can also be found in the soil. In addition to dinitrogen, other inorganic and organic forms exist in the soil as well. Organic forms of nitrogen make up a very high percentage of the total nitrogen found in the soil. However, plants are able to use only very specific inorganic forms of nitrogen. The table shows the most common forms found in the soil and the most common forms used by plants."--First page.Scott C. Killpack and Daryl Buchholz (Department of Agronomy