They use some of these carbon compounds from food to build their own bodies – but much of the food they eat is broken down to release energy, in a process that is almost the reverse of what producers do. Animals are the most visible type of consumer in our ecosystems, though many types of microbes also fall into this category.Ĭonsumers incorporate carbon compounds from plants and other food sources when they eat them. “ Consumers” are organisms that eat other living things. Plants and other producer organisms such as cyanobacteria are crucial to life on Earth because they can turn atmospheric carbon into living matter. “ Producers” – organisms that produce food from sunlight, such as plants – absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to build sugars, lipids, proteins, and other essential building blocks of life.įor plants, CO 2 is absorbed through pores in their leaves called “stomata.” Carbon dioxide enters the plant through the stomata and is incorporated into containing carbon compounds with the help of energy from sunlight. The next step is… Producers Absorb Carbon However carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere, CO 2 gas is the starting point of the carbon cycle. Today, carbon is also released into the atmosphere through the activities of living things, such as the exhalations of animals, the actions of decomposer organisms, and the burning of wood and fossil fuels by humans. Carbon dioxide gas – CO 2 – can be produced by inorganic processes, or by the metabolisms of living things.īefore Earth had life on it, carbon dioxide gas likely came from volcanic activity and asteroid impacts. To become part of the carbon cycle, carbon atoms start out in a gaseous form. Carbon Cycle Steps Carbon in the Atmosphere Excess carbon dioxide is largely absorbed by the ocean, which leads to ocean acidification and may have been responsible for several mass extinctions. However, carbon dioxide is also released by decaying organic matter, geological processes, and the burning of fossil fuels. Autotrophic organisms like plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to create glucose. Carbon dioxide is released by organisms as they break down by glucose. As a gas, carbon largely takes the form of carbon dioxide.
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