The Carbon Cycle

• Decomposers are organisms that break down dead plants and animals and return it to the soil. E.g. fungi and bacteria.
• Combustion (burning fossil fuels) releases the carbon in them back into the air as carbon dioxide.
• During photosynthesis, plants absorb CO2 gas and convert it to carbon compounds e.g. sugars.
• Carbon compounds in plants are passed to animals when they're eaten, and from animal to animal along a food chain.
• Dead organisms that are not broken down by decomposers may eventually form fossil fuels, such as coal and oil.
• The carbon cycle is important because it recycles carbon dioxide through both biotic and abiotic parts of the ecosystem.
• Respiration in plants, animals and decomposers releases carbon into the air as carbon dioxide gas.