Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is a very important and complex biochemical process. All living organisms need nitrogen. Plants especially need nitrogen to grow and they cannot utilize the nitrogen found in the atmosphere (N2) so they must get it either from fertilizers or from BNF.
In the BNF process, organisms called prokaryotes (microscopic single-celled organisms) utilize an enzyme to help convert N2 to ammonia (NH3). Obviously it’s better for plants to get the necessary nitrogen from biological fixation because it’s a natural process. The use of fertilizers has resulted in ecological problems worldwide, such as the formation of coastal dead zones.