Autotrophs

Plant Nutrition

Autotrophs are living things that can make their own food inside their bodies.

Autotrophs are organisms that can produce their own food.

This means they do not need to eat other animals or plants to survive because they manufacture their own meals.

They get the power they need to work from different places around them.

They do this by obtaining energy from different sources.

The way an autotroph gets its energy determines the group it belongs to.

Autotrophs are classified based on how they acquire their energy.

We group them by looking at whether they use light or chemicals to make their food.

Photoautotrophs are living things that use the light from the sun to create their food.

Photoautotrophs are organisms that use sunlight to make organic materials.

These ones act like solar panels, using sun power to build their body materials.

Every photoautotroph uses a special method called photosynthesis to stay alive.

All photoautotrophs carry out a process called photosynthesis.

This is the name we give to the work they do when making food with light.

During this work, they turn the light from the sun into the fuel they need for food.

Through this process, they convert sunlight into energy to produce their food.

They change sun rays into the energy that keeps them growing.

Examples of Photoautotrophs

Plants

Green algae

Red algae

Certain bacteria like cyanobacteria

Chemoautotrophs are living things that get their food power from chemical reactions instead of light.

Chemoautotrophs are organisms that obtain their energy from inorganic chemical processes.

Instead of using the sun, they break down chemicals to get the energy they need.

You will usually see these autotrophs in very harsh places where ordinary plants would die quickly.

These autotrophs are often found in extreme environments where plants cannot survive.

They live in very tough areas that other living things cannot manage.

These harsh places include the bottom of the deep ocean and hot water springs that contain acid.

Such environments include the deep sea and acidic hot springs.

They thrive in dark or very hot places where the sun does not reach.

Examples of Chemoautotrophs

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria like Nitrosomonas

Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria