Photosynthesis and cellular respiration allow the carbon and oxygen that organisms consume and produce to be cycled through the ecosystem. They work together so that what is made from one process is used in the other. Without them the ecosystem would run out of carbon dioxide and oxygen, and everything would die.
The relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration is such that the products of one system are the reactants of the other. Photosynthesis involves the use of energy from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce glucose and oxygen. Cellular respiration uses glucose and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. To emphasize this point even more, the equation for photosynthesis is the opposite of cellular respiration.
