CARBON CYCLE : It is the cycling of carbon or carbon dioxide between the environment and living organisms. It is a type of gaseous cycle and it occurs as carbon dioxide in air and also dissolved in water. It is referred to as the gaseous perfect cycle.
Green plants (producers) fix the carbon of the atmospheric carbon dioxide by photosynthesis and incorporate it in their food molecules as carbohydrates. Animals (Consumers) obtain the same from plants by feeding on them directly (Herbivorous) or indirectly (Carnivores) and incorporated in their organic substances as carbon skeletons. It is in the same way that the dissolved carbon dioxide of water is used by aquatic plants and passed on to aquatic animals through food chains. The carbon of organisms eventually returns to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide by the following events.
1. During respiration in both plants and animals.
2. During bacterial decomposition of dead bodies of plants and animals.
3. Combustion of fossilized plant products such as coal and oil deposits and forest fires.
4. Volcanic explosions.
