Fitness is the ability to survive and produce offspring who can also survive and reproduce. Below are descriptions of four male lions.
According to this definition of fitness, which lion would biologists consider
the "fittest"?
Name
Fluffy
Mr. Whiskers Spot
Leo
Age at death
13 years 16 years
12 years 10 years
# cubs fathered
19
25
20
20
# cubs surviving to adulthood
15
14
14
19
Size
10 feet
8.5 feet
9 feet
9 feet

the nitrogen cycle provides nitrogen to the ecosystem from the atmosphere, ground and oceans. nitrogen is an important component of complex molecules such as amino acids and nucleotides, which lead to the creation of proteins and dna, the building blocks of all life. plants absorb nitrogen in the form of ammonium, nitrate ion and, on rare occasions, as amino acids. animals receive nitrogen necessary for biological processes from feeding on living or dead organic matter.