Answer: A. Plants fix carbon and release oxygen, and animals release carbon and use oxygen.
The carbon cycle describes just how carbon is circulated in various forms through nature. As a constituent of all organic compounds, carbon is found and utilized by all living organisms on Earth. Plants help in fixing carbon and also in releasing oxygen into the atmosphere while animals utilize oxygen and release carbon into the atmosphere. With this, there is a constant exchange of gases between living organisms and their environment. In general, plants release oxygen needed by animals into the environment while animals release carbon needed by plants into the environment. This tends to create a balance in the ecosystem.