Organic matter is very important in the movement of nutrients in the environment and plays a role in water retention on the surface of the planet.
[4] Organic matter is common throughout the ecosystem and is cycled through decomposition processes by soil microbial communities that are crucial for nutrient availability.
Organic matter acts as a buffer in aqueous solutions to maintain a neutral pH in the environment.
[12] The phenomenon is generally caused by either pulsed or continuous changes to inputs of fresh organic matter (FOM).
After the input of FOM, specialized microorganisms are believed to grow quickly and only decompose this newly added organic matter.
[13] Other soil treatments, besides organic matter inputs, which lead to this short-term change in turnover rates, include "input of mineral fertilizer, exudation of organic substances by roots, mere mechanical treatment of soil or its drying and rewetting.
[13] The priming effect has been found in many different studies and is regarded as a common occurrence, appearing in most plant soil systems.
[15] However, the mechanisms which lead to the priming effect are more complex than originally thought, and still remain generally misunderstood.
[14] Although there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the reason for the priming effect, a few undisputed facts have emerged from the collection of recent research: Recent findings suggest that the same priming effect mechanisms acting in soil systems may also be present in aquatic environments, which suggests a need for broader considerations of this phenomenon in the future.
[13][16] One suitable definition of organic matter is biological material in the process of decaying or decomposing, such as humus.
Various factors impact the decomposition of organic matter including its chemical properties and other environmental parameters.
Metabolic capabilities of the microbial communities play a crucial role on decomposition since they are highly connected with the energy availability and processing.
[17] In terrestrial ecosystems the energy status of soil organic matter has been shown to affect microbial substrate preferences.
The aromatic rings are also susceptible to electrophilic and nucleophilic attacks from other electron-donating or electron-accepting material, which explains the possible polymerization to create larger molecules of organic matter.
Organic matter is important in water and wastewater treatment and recycling, natural aquatic ecosystems, aquaculture, and environmental rehabilitation.
The purification process does not necessarily stop these bound molecules but does not cause harm to any humans, animals, or plants.
It can form hydroxyl radicals (OH) when it decomposes, which will react with the organic matter to shut down the problem of biofouling.