Climate Control / Co2

Soil respiration is a key ecosystem process that releases carbon from the soil in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon is acquired from the atmosphere by plants using the photosynthetic process to convert CO2 into organic compounds using the energy from the sun. These organic compounds will be used by the plants to build structural components or respired to use the stored energy. Plant respiration will produce CO2 and when this plant respiration occurs below-ground in the roots, it is considered one form of soil respiration. Over time, plant structural components will be consumed by heterotrophs, which are organisms that consume organic substrates to acquire energy. This heterotrophic consumption releases CO2 and when this CO2 is released by below-ground organisms; animals, fungi and bacteria, it is considered soil respiration.