Heterotrophy is all about eating and being eaten, which are major themes in ecology.
The first organisms on Earth were probably heterotrophs that consumed amino acids and sugars, which formed spontaneously in the early atmosphere and rained down on the surface or formed in the oceans near hydrothermal vents.
Since that time, the diversity of strategies for obtaining energy by heterotrophs has expanded tremendously. Three general steps are associated with heterotrophic energy acquisition: finding and obtaining food, consuming food, and absorbing its energy and nutrients. The organic matter that provides energy for heterotrophs includes living and freshly killed organisms as well as detritus —organic material derived from dead organisms in various stages of decomposition (see Concept 20.4). In this section, we will examine food sources, the ways in which heterotrophs obtain energy, and factors that influence absorption of food. There is a wide range of variation in the complexity of heterotrophic energy acquisition and assimilation processes that is associated with heterotroph body size and physiology. In Chapters 8, 12, and 13, we will take a more in-depth look at the various types of consumers (predators, herbivores, and parasites), how they forage, and how the food they consume affects their growth and reproduction as well as the distributions and abundances of both the consumers themselves and their food resources (prey and hosts).
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