carbon dioxide cycle


car·bon di·ox·ide cy·cle

, carbon cyclethe circulation of carbon as CO2 from the expired air of animals and decaying organic matter to plant life where it is synthesized (through photosynthesis) to carbohydrate material, from which, as a result of catabolic processes in all life, it is again ultimately released to the atmosphere as CO2.

carbon dioxide cycle

The route followed by CO2 as it passes through biological systems: it is incorporated by plants or bacteria and transformed into organic matter ingested by non-CO2-fixing organisms, which die or excrete organic material, providing the substrate for the continuing cycle.

car·bon di·ox·ide cy·cle

, carbon cycle (kahr'bŏn dī-oks'īd sī'kĕl) The circulation of carbon as CO2 from the expired air of animals and decaying organic matter to plant life where it is synthesized (through photosynthesis) to carbohydrate material, from which, as a result of catabolic processes in all life, it is again ultimately released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.