How is carbon incorporated into life forms in different ways?
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Carbon is present in all living things and also in non-living things like air, coal, oil, ocean and rocks.
Carbon moves easily between the different materials. It is transferred between different life forms in the following ways:
1. In atmosphere carbon is present as carbondioxide gas in which the carbon atom is attached to oxygen. Plants utilize carbondioxide and sunlight to make their own food and grow and hence become part of the plant.
2. Herbivorous animals eat plants and incorporate carbon in form of carbohydrates, fats and proteins from the plants into themselves to grow.
3. Carnivores take up carbon from the herbivores when they consume them. Both plants and animals respire and release carbondioxide in the atmosphere.
4. When animals die, decomposers feed on the organic matter and on respiration release the carbon in the organic matter into the atmosphere as carbondioxide.
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