The carbon cycle

• How does the carbon cycle take place?

  • green plants use carbon from CO2 to make carbohydrates, lipids and proteins
  • eating passes carbon compounds in plant along to animals in food chain or web
  • respiration by living plants and animals releases CO2 back into the air
  • plants and animals eventually die and decompose or killed and turned into useful products - when plants or animals decompose - broken down by bacteria and fungi which release enzymes and catalyse breakdown of dead material into smaller molecules - release CO2 back into air by respiration as break down material
  • useful plants and animal products such as wood and fossil fuels burned - release CO2 into the air
  • decomposition of materials means that the habitats can be maintained for organisms to live there