Zusammenfassung der Ressource
The carbon cycle and Decomposition
- The whole thing is powered by photosynthesis
- In photosynthesis plants convert the carbon from CO2 in the air into sugars.
- Plants then incorporate this carbon into other carbohydrates & fats
&proteins
- carbon compounds are passed through the animal and food chain
through eating
- Both plants& animals respire when the organism is alive - releases CO2 back in
the air
- Plants &animals eventually die &decay.
- they are then broken down by bacteria and fungi in the soil
- these decomposers release CO2 back into the air by respiration as they break down the material
- over millions of years, material from dead animals &plants turn into fossil fuels - coal and oil
- when fossil fuels are burnt CO2 is released back into the air
- recycling carbon & other nutrients takes longer in waterlogged soils than in well-drained soils.
- Bcuz bacteria & fungi that decompose organic material need oxygen to respire &produce energy.
- waterlogged soils don't have much oxygen
- decomposers have less energy &work more slowly.
- Nutrient recycling takes longer in acidic soil than in neutral.
- bcuz extremes of pH slow down the reproduction of decomposers or kill them
- Carbon is also recycled in the sea
- species make shells made of carbonates
- when the organisms die the shells fall to the ocean floor
- eventually forming limestone rocks
- the carbon in these rocks returns to the
atmosphere as CO2 - when weathering takes
place in rocks or during a volcanic explosion