English: A diagram of the simplified nutrient cycle.

The three main compartments for nutrient store:

• Biomass (flora and fauna) (green)
• Litter (purple)
• Soil (brown)

The two inputs (light green):

• Nutrients dissolved in raindrops
• Nutrients from weathered rock

The two outputs (red):

• Nutrients lost through surface runoff
• Nutrients lost through leaching

The three flows between the compartments (blue):

• Littering (including withering, defoliation, excretion, unconsumed parts left over, dead bodies of animals, and so on). (This does not include people who don't care about the environment throwing litter on the ground, even if the litter contains nutrients, because those people are not regarded as part of the biomass.)
• Decomposition of the litter into inorganic nutrients, which are then stored in the soil
• Nutrient uptake by plants

This diagram only shows the typical nutrient cycle of a terrestrial ecosystem. The size and thickness of the compartments and flows are not proportional to their actual size since the proportions vary from biome to biome, and from ecosystem to ecosystem.