To an extent. Plant life captures carbon from the air and turns it into leaves and stalks. It dies and ends up in the soil where it gets degraded, and some carb

To an extent. Plant life captures carbon from the air and turns it into leaves and stalks. It dies and ends up in the soil where it gets degraded, and some carbon returns to the atmosphere but this occurs slowly and other plants will sooner grow in the vacant space left by the dead plant. Local effects change this of course and it could shift the other way. When I hike among the chaparral, I certainly see a lot more dust blow off the mountain tops than there are plants growing and shedding leaves and adding in more dirt at that instant for sure. The removal process from the prevailing wind is higher in this case than the adding process from plant matter and these mountains are therefore eroding away. If you live somewhere with trees that drop leaves that just stick around in the forest without blowing away, that area is probably adding dirt over time which can be noticeable sometimes if you live in an area for a long time.