Question

How does autotroph get its food?

Answer 1

For an ecosystem to function well, all its biotic and abiotic components need to interact with one another. One of those interactions includes the food chain. A food chain represents the producer-consumer relationship (who consumes whom) and how it affects the ecosystem. Various interconnected food chains make up a food web.

Complete answer:
-There are producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers that make up the terrestrial and aquatic food chains. Decomposers are a part of the detritus food chain.
Producers are also called autotrophs while consumers are called heterotrophs. Autotrophs can make their food. They do not depend on any other organism for their food. They require simple inorganic materials or some other abiotic component to prepare their food. These organisms can convert inorganic matter to organic matter.
-Autotrophs or consumers on the lower trophic levels are consumed by heterotrophs (consumers) on the higher trophic level. Therefore, heterotrophs consume organic matter. This is because they cannot fix carbon by themselves hence requiring a carbon source.
-Autotrophs can be classified into types depending on their energy source. Photoautotrophs, such as green plants and certain microorganisms, use light as their energy source. They can assimilate carbon dioxide from the air and in the presence of light convert it to glucose. This process is called photosynthesis.
-Organisms that convert inorganic substances such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, etc. to organic substances are called chemoautotrophs. These organisms derive their energy from chemical reactions such as oxidation of an inorganic matter. Some bacteria and archaea that reside in deep-sea vents where no little light can penetrate are chemoautotrophs.
-In conclusion, autotrophs can fix carbon dioxide themselves (no living or dead source of carbon is required) and use light or chemical energy to produce their food.

Note: There is another category called the mixotrophs. The ones that belong to this category use light or chemical energy to make organic matter (food). However, their carbon source is an organic compound. They can be classified as photoheterotrophs and chemolithoheterotrophs.
Sometimes organisms can be both autotrophs and heterotrophs. Such is the case of Euglena; it can prepare its food using photosynthesis. In the absence of light, Euglena consumes organic matter.