EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -A heterotrophic organism, sometimes simply referred to as a heterotroph, is an organism that must obtain its nutrition by consuming other organisms or the organic matter from a once-living organism. Humans, cats, and rabbits are all examples of heterotrophic organisms.

Detailed explanation-2: -Herbivores are heterotrophs that directly consume producers such as plants or algae. They are a necessary link between producers and other heterotrophs such as carnivores. Examples of herbivores include deer, rabbits, sea urchins, grasshoppers, mice, and the larvae of many insects, like the caterpillar in Figure 24.5.

Detailed explanation-3: -A heterotroph gets its energy from other organisms. A rabbit gets its energy from plants. this makes a rabbit a heterotroph.

Detailed explanation-4: -Heterotrophs are known as consumers because they consume producers or other consumers. Dogs, birds, fish, and humans are all examples of heterotrophs. Heterotrophs occupy the second and third levels in a food chain, a sequence of organisms that provide energy and nutrients for other organisms.

Detailed explanation-5: -Heterotrophs are the consumers of the ecosystem; they cannot make their own food. They use, rearrange, and ultimately decompose the complex organic materials built up by the autotrophs. All animals and fungi are heterotrophs, as are most bacteria and many other microorganisms.