Ecology
Nutrient Cycling
The continuous movement of nutrients through ecosystems as they pass from the environment into organisms and back through decomposition.
Biological Context
Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other essential elements cycle through food webs, returning to soil and atmosphere through decomposition and respiration. Healthy ecosystems have efficient nutrient cycling; degraded ones lose nutrients.
Business Application
Business nutrient cycling: how resources (capital, talent, information) circulate through economic systems. Healthy markets recycle failed resources into new ventures; stagnant ones trap them.