Biology Assignment Help >> Nutrition, Modes of Nutrition

Nutrition is the sum of the processes by which living animals obtain food or utilize it for use in their various biological activities is termed as nutrition.

Modes of Nutrition

1) Autotrophic nutrition-Many organisms like as some bacteria, green plants and certain protists have the capability of utilizing water or carbon-di-oxide in the presence of sun, to prepare organic food on their own. This process of synthesizing food is named as photosynthesis and organisms are called autotrophs and phototrophs. This type of mode of nutrition is called autotrophic nutrition.

2) Heterotrophic nutrition-Most organisms like fungi, all animals, or some protists do not have the capability of trapping the energy from the sun. Hence, these cannot prepare organic food from inorganic substances. These organisms are termed as heterotrophs. These depend on readymade food that is plants, animals and their products or obtain the energy by burning the organic molecules of the food in their body. This mode of nutrition is known as heterotrophic nutrition.

Heterotrophic nutrition is of two types that are:

(A) Holotrophic nutrition-It depends feeding on readymade food materials. All animals obtain readymade food or utilize it in their respective digestive function by breaking complex organic substances into the simple molecules with the help of digestive enzymes.

On the bases of the feeding habits, animals can be grouped as:

1) Herbivores-Herbivores animals feed on plants, e.g. cow, deer

2) Carnivores- these types of animals feed on the flesh of other animals, e.g. lion, tiger.

3) Omnivores- These animals feed on both plants and animals, e.g. crow

4) Scavengers- Those types of animals that feed on dead animals, e.g. vultures

(B)Saprophytic nutrition-In this type of nutrition, the animal absorbs the dissolved organic matter through the body surface. This is the characteristic of bacteria and fungi.

Feeding Habits

1- Holophytic: Plants like nutrition e.g. Euglena

2-Holozoic: Animal like nutrition and taking in of solid food. That is Amoeba.

3- Insectivorous: Insects feed e.g wall lizard

4- -Parasitic: Depends upon the host e.g Ascaris

5- Voraceous-Feed only the larvae of invertebrates e.g. Gambusia

6- Larvivorous-Feed on the larva e.g fish

7- Sanguivorous feeder- They feed blood e.g, mosquito, leech.

8- Cannabalism- They feed upon their own species e.g. snakes

9-Filter feeder-Feed micro food particles or reject macro food particle. Unio (Fresh water mussel)

10 -Myxotrophic feeder-Both holophytic or holozoic feed e.g euglena.

11- Detritus-Feed upon organic food present in soil. e.g Earthworm

12- Extracellular digestion-Digestion happen outside the cell e.g rabbit, frog, , man

13- Intracellular digestion-Digestion within the cells e.g Amoeba

14- Coprophagus-Feed upon their own faeces (excreta). Coprophagy also called as Reingestion which takes place for complete digestion of cellulose in rabbit.

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