The carbon cycle

The carbon cycle

Many different materials cycle through the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem.
All materials in the living world are recycled to provide the building blocks for future organisms
The carbon cycle is important so that living organisms can continually be supplied with carbon in forms suitable for use in making the molecules necessary for life (e.g. proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids).
The carbon cycle returns carbon from organisms to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide to be used by plants in photosynthesis.
Microorganisms are important decomposers that cycle materials through an ecosystem by returning carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and mineral ions to the soil.

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