9. The Carbon Cycle is a complex series of processes through which all of the carbon atoms in existence rotate. This is how carbon atoms move through our natural world.
Plants, animals, and soil interact to make up the basic cycles of nature. In the carbon cycle, plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the soil to make the substances they need for growth. The process of photosynthesis incorporates the carbon atoms from carbon dioxide into sugars.
The rabbit that eats the plants uses the carbon to build their own tissues. When the fox eats the rabbit, it uses the carbon for its own needs. These animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe out, and when they die the carbon is returned to the soil during decomposition. The carbon atoms in the soil are then used by a new plant or small microorganisms. The same carbon atom moves through many organisms and even end up where it began – the same atoms are recycled.


http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/carboncycle.jpg