Feeding algae is a typical example of how they obtain energy for life. For example, plants use solar energy, and animals eat plants that are eaten by other predators.
The food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in an ecosystem (biological community) to acquire nutrients and the energy that sustains life.
Main features of autotrophs
Autotrophs are living organisms that produce their own food (of organic origin) from simple molecules. There are two main types of autotrophs:
- Photoautotrophs (photosynthetic organisms), for example, plants that use the energy of the sun to convert them into organic substances - carbohydrates by photosynthesis from carbon dioxide. Other examples of photoautotrophs are cyanobacteria and algae.
- Chemoautotrophs acquire organic compounds throughchemical reactions involving certain inorganic compounds: ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen.
It is autotrophs that are considered the basis of any ecosystem on our planet. They are part of many food webs and chains, and the energy that is obtained during chemosynthesis or photosynthesis is supported by the rest of the organisms of ecological systems.
Speaking about the type of nutrition for algae, we note that they are typical representatives of photoautotrophs. If we are talking about the value in the food chains, then autotrophs are called producers or producers.
Heterotrophs
What characterizes such a food chain? Algae use chemical or solar energy to produce their own food (carbohydrates) from carbon dioxide. Heterotrophs instead of the energy of the sun receive energy using by-products or other organisms. Their typical examples are fungi, animals, bacteria, humans. There are several variants of heterotrophs with diverse ecological functions, from insects to fungi.
Algae nutrition
Algae, being phototrophic organisms, can only exist in the presence of sunlight, minerals, and organic compounds. Their main habitat is water.
There are some algae communities:
- planktonic;
- benthic algae;
- ground;
- soil;
- hotsources;
- snow and ice;
- s alt waters;
- in lime substrate
The specificity of their nutrition lies in the fact that, unlike animals and bacteria, in the process of evolution, algae have developed the ability to use fully oxidized inorganic compounds for their nutrition: water and carbon dioxide.
Algae are powered by solar energy, accompanied by the release of molecular oxygen.
The use of light energy for complex biological syntheses in algae is possible due to the fact that plants have a complex of pigments that absorb light. Of these, chlorophyll is of particular importance.
The process of carbon and light nutrition of plants is called photosynthesis. In general, algae nutrition corresponds to the following chemical equation:
CO2+12H2O=C6H2O6+6H2O+2815680 J
For every 6 gram molecules of water and acid, one gram molecule of glucose is synthesized. During the process, 2815680 J of energy are released, 6 gram-molecules of oxygen are formed.
The function of the process is the biochemical conversion of light energy into chemical energy.
Important points
Each version of the food chain ends with a predator or a superpredator, that is, a creature that has no natural enemies. For example, it is a shark, a crocodile, a bear. They are called "masters" of their own ecological systems. If one of the organisms dies, detritivores (worms, vultures, crabs, hyenas) eat it. The rest is decomposedbacteria and fungi (decomposers), energy exchange continues.
Types of morphological differentiation of algal thallus
Algae nutrition is accompanied by the flow of energy, its loss is characteristic of each link in the food chain.
Single-celled flagellates are characterized by a certain organization. Amoeboid is inherent in species that lack a dense shell, and use cytoplasmic processes for movement. Palmelloid is formed by cells that are immersed in a tetraspore (common mucus).
Cenobia are single-celled colonies in which functions are divided between groups of individuals.
Department of blue-green algae
It has about two thousand species. This is the oldest group of algae, the remains of which are found in the Precambrian deposits. They are characterized by a photoauthorophic way of feeding. It is this group of algae that is most common in nature.
There are unicellular forms among them. In blue-green algae, there is no clear nucleus, mitochondria, formed plastids, and pigments are located in lamellae - special photosynthetic plates.
Special Features
Reproduction is carried out by simple cell division for unicellular species, for filamentous species - thanks to fragments of the mother thread. They can fix nitrogen, so they settle in places where there is practically no nutrient medium. This way of feeding algae allows them to comfortably exist even onvolcanoes after their eruption.
Green algae have chlorophylls "a" and "b". Such a set is found in higher and euglena plants. They also have a certain set of additional pigments, including xanthophylls: zeaxanthin, lutein.
They are characterized by a photoautotrophic type of algal nutrition associated with photosynthesis in terms of significance and scale. In various departments there are species that can be called strict photosynthetics.
Features of the chemical composition
Algae nutrition can be explained on the basis of their chemical composition. He is heterogeneous. In green algae, there is an increased content of proteins - 40-45%. Among them are alanine, leupin, bicarboxylic acids, alginine. Up to 30% they contain carbohydrates, up to 10% - lipids. The ashes contain copper, zinc.
Algae nutrition is inextricably linked with solar energy and photosynthesis. Currently, interest in algae has increased significantly not only as a source of nutrients, but also as an excellent raw material for biodiesel production.
Relevant are plants for growing brown algae, which are then processed into environmentally friendly biodiesel fuel.
Algae are indispensable assistants to space research. With their help, the crew of the spacecraft receives oxygen. Suitable for such purposes is the simplest algae - chlorella, which is characterized by high activity of photosynthesis. Experimental algal plants are already operating in our country, as well as in Europeanstates.
Being autotrophs, synthesizing organic compounds from inorganic substances, they use sunlight to get the right nutrition. This is done through photosynthesis - a serious process that consists of two phases: light and dark.
The first phase is associated with the knocking out of the chlorophyll chromatophore by light beams of electrons required for some processes: photophosphorylation (converts ADP to ATP), photolysis of water (release of hydroxyl groups), accumulation of NADP, carbon dioxide, hydrogen.
During the dark phase, everything that has accumulated during the day is applied in the Calvin cycle. The product of biochemical reactions is glucose, which is the food for algae.
