heterotroph

Definitions

An organism which requires an external supply of energy and nutrients under the form of food containing organic carbon as it cannot synthesize its own.

Equivalents

Examples

“Woody detritus is an important component of forested ecosystems. It can reduce⟳ erosion and affects soil development, stores nutrients and water, provides a major source of energy and nutrients, and serves as a seedbed for plants and as a major habitat for decomposers and heterotrophs.”

“It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point⟳ of view⟳ that is not universally accepted.”

CEFR level