Carbon is a basic element in all organic compounds that cycles in the ecosystem between inorganic and organic form. The ocean contains about ninety-eight percent of inorganic carbon while the atmosphere hold two percent. During the carbon cycle, green plants remove carbon dioxide from their environment and convert the inorganic carbon to organic form by photosynthesis. They release some of their organic molecules as carbon dioxide by means of their own cellular respiration. The rest of the organic material remains in their bodies until they are eaten, burned, or die. When animals eat plants, their respiration releases carbon dioxide, and their excretory systems eliminate complex organic carbon-containing waste products. Decomposers, bacteria and fungi, break down waste products and dead bodies of plants and animals and release carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere or water.

The complete carbon cycle can occur rapidly taking minutes or hours in...