Why are the water, nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen cycles important to an ecosystem?
The key word is cycle. If these elements were not cycled they would eventually end up stored some where in the ecosystem. Nitrogen is needed for the production of DNA and RNA, amino acids and proteins; carbon is the backbone of all organic compounds, water is the universal solvent and is needed by the cells to carry on their chemical functions and oxygen is needed for aerobic respiration among other things. Life would run out of these necessary elements to continue to function.
