Carbon Cycle

Question 1

What is meant by the term recycling materials?

Answer 1

In a stable community or ecosystem, the processes that remove materials or nutrients from the community are balanced by the processes that return those nutrients, creating continuous cycles

Question 2

What is meant by the term carbon cycle?

Answer 2

Carbon is present in all living organisms.
When organisms die, the carbon is recycled so that it can be used by future generations.
When decomposers process decaying matter, they respire, releasing carbon dioxide back into the air.

Question 3

What is the carbon cycles?

Answer 3

~Carbon is removed from the atmosphere by producers (e.g. algae) who use it in photosynthesis.
~By consuming plant matter, animals obtain carbon compounds.
~Carbon is returned into the atmosphere (as carbon dioxide) because of the respiration that happens in plant and animal cells.
~When animals and plants die, decomposers return the carbon locked in their bodies back to the atmosphere via decay.
~ Combustion of fossil fuels is another source of carbon entry into the atmosphere.

Question 4

When animals and plants die, what group of organisms returns the carbon locked in their bodies back into the atmosphere?

Answer 4

Decomposers

Question 5

Why is carbon removed from the atmosphere?

Answer 5

Carbon is removed from the atmosphere by producers to be used in photosynthesis to make glucose

Question 6

What happens to the community when the process returns the nutrients?

Answer 6

In a stable community or ecosystem, the processes that remove materials or nutrients from the community are balanced by the processes that return those nutrients.