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Photoautotrophs are organisms that can utilize light energy from sunlight and elements (such as carbon) from inorganic compounds to produce organic materials needed to sustain their own metabolism (i.e. autotrophy). Such biological activities are known as photosynthesis, and examples of such organisms include plants, algae and cyanobacteria.
For example, most plants are photolithoautotrophic, since they use light as an energy source, water as electron donor, and CO 2 as a carbon source. All animals and fungi are chemoorganoheterotrophic , since they use organic substances both as chemical energy sources and as electron/hydrogen donors and carbon sources.
Biological pigments are any coloured material in plant or animal cells. All biological pigments selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light while reflecting others. [28] [29] The primary function of pigments in plants is photosynthesis, which uses the green pigment chlorophyll and several colourful pigments that absorb as much light energy ...
Plants, along with other primary producers, produce the energy that other living beings consume, and the oxygen that they breathe. [3] It is thought that the first organisms on Earth were primary producers located on the ocean floor. [3] Autotrophs are fundamental to the food chains of all ecosystems in the world. They take energy from the ...
Gross primary production (GPP) is the amount of chemical energy, typically expressed as carbon biomass, that primary producers create in a given length of time.Some fraction of this fixed energy is used by primary producers for cellular respiration and maintenance of existing tissues (i.e., "growth respiration" and "maintenance respiration").
[41] [42] [43] While some planktonic cyanobacteria are unicellular and free living cells (e.g., Crocosphaera, Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus); others have established symbiotic relationships with haptophyte algae, such as coccolithophores. [40] Amongst the filamentous forms, Trichodesmium are free-living and form aggregates.
A lithoautotroph is an organism that derives energy from reactions of reduced compounds of mineral (inorganic) origin. [1] Two types of lithoautotrophs are distinguished by their energy source; photolithoautotrophs derive their energy from light, while chemolithoautotrophs (chemolithotrophs or chemoautotrophs) derive their energy from chemical reactions. [1]
Terrestrial and aquatic phototrophs: plants grow on a fallen log floating in algae-rich water Phototrophs (from Ancient Greek φῶς , φωτός ( phôs, phōtós ) 'light' and τροφή ( trophḗ ) 'nourishment') are organisms that carry out photon capture to produce complex organic compounds (e.g. carbohydrates ) and acquire energy.