Everything about Autotroph totally explained
An
autotroph (from the
Greek autos = self and
trophe = nutrition) is an
organism that produces complex
organic compounds from simple
inorganic molecules using energy from
light or inorganic chemical reactions it only makes energy from light.
Autotrophs are the
producers in a
food chain.
Plants and other organisms which carry out
photosynthesis are
photoautotrophs (or phototrophs).
Bacteria which derive energy from oxidizing inorganic compounds (such as
hydrogen sulfide,
ammonium and ferrous iron) are
chemoautotrophs, and include the
lithotrophs.
Autotrophs are fundamental to the food chains of all plant
ecosystems. They take energy from the environment (in the form of sunlight or inorganic chemicals) and use it to create carbon-based organic molecules. Other organisms, called
heterotrophs, take in autotrophs as
food to carry out such functions. Thus, heterotrophs —
animals,
fungi, as well as most
bacteria and
protozoa — depend on autotrophs for the energy and raw materials they need. This mechanism is called
primary production in the sea. Heterotrophs obtain energy by breaking down organic molecules obtained in food.
Carnivorous animals ultimately rely on autotrophs because the energy and organic building blocks obtained from their prey comes from autotrophs they preyed upon.
There are some species(species come from the ground or the soil) of organisms that require
organic compounds as a source of
carbon, but are able to use light or inorganic compounds as a source of energy. Such organisms are not defined as autotrophic, but rather as heterotrophic. An organism that obtains carbon from organic compounds but obtains energy from light is called a
photoheterotroph, while an organism that obtains carbon from organic compounds but obtains energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds is termed a
chemoheterotroph. i
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