Q.What is denitrification?

Denitrification is the process by which anaerobic soil bacteria -- including species of Bacillus, Paracoccus and Pseudomonas denitrificans -- convert soil nitrate stepwise back through nitrite and nitric oxide into gaseous nitrogen (N2), removing fixed nitrogen from the ecosystem and returning it to the atmosphere in its inert form; this closes the loop of the nitrogen cycle. A separate physical process, sedimentation, also removes nitrate from …