5 Differences between Reservoir Pool and Exchange Pool with examples

Biogeochemical cycle is the cyclic movement of chemical elements (C, O, N) between biotic (living organisms) and abiotic components (atmosphere) of earth.

Biogeochemical cycle has two components; reservoir pool and exchange pool.

Reservoir Pool and Exchange Pool in Water Cycle

Reservoir pool (nutrient store)	Exchange pool (nutrient cycling)
It is the primary source of the element or the nutrient storehouse of the chemical	It is characterized by rapid exchange of elements
In reservoir pool, the chemical element is locked or retained for long periods of time	Exchange pool holds the element for a short period of time
Generally, reservoirs are large and are abiotic (non-living) factors such as atmosphere	Generally, exchange pool is small and is represented by the biotic factors (living organisms) with some minor part of the abiotic phase
Reservoir pool is less active and exchange of element is very slow	Exchange pool is very active and rapid exchange of element occurs between living organisms
Example: a)Atmosphere is the major reservoir of Nitrogen in Nitrogen cycle b) In water cycle; oceans, glaciers and lakes  are reservoirs	Example:a)Plants and animals as exchange pool in N2 cycle: Movement of soil nitrates (NO3-) absorbed by plants to herbivores to carnivores in a food chain b) In water cycle, atmosphere is the exchange pool