Recycling

• Carbon is absorbed by plants when they carry out photosynthesis - It becomes carbon compounds in plant tissues
• Carbon is passed on to primary consumers when they eat the plants. It's passed on to secondary and tertiary consumers when they eat other consumers.
• All living organisms die and the carbon compounds in the fead organisms are digested by microorganisms called decomposers
• Carbon is returned to the air as all living organisms (including decomposers) carry out respiration.
• If dead organic matter ends up in places where there isn't any decompsers their carbon compounds can be turned into fossil fuels over millions of years using heat and pressure
• The carbon in fossil fuels is released when they're burnt - this is called coombustion
• As well as coal, otehr types of rock can be formed from dead organic matter deposited on the sea floor
• One way carbon can be returned to the atmosphere from these rocks is by them being drawn down deep into the earths crust