Plant and Animal Nutrition Overview

Plant Nutrition

• Plants require water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to produce glucose (carbohydrates).

Parasitism

• Some plants, like insectivorous plants (e.g., Venus flytrap), have specialized leaves to attract and digest insects.

Nutritional Adoption in Animals

• Animals are heterotrophs, meaning they consume other organisms for nutrients.
• Different animals have various dietary categories: herbivores (plant-eaters), carnivores (meat-eaters), omnivores (plant and meat-eaters), and detritivores (consuming decaying organic matter).
• Animals have different methods of digestion:
• Intracellular digestion: Single-celled organisms digest food inside their cells.
• Extracellular digestion: Multicellular organisms break down food outside their cells. The process involves particles being broken down into smaller components outside the cell.

Nutrient Functions

• Nutrients help organisms:
• Fight off disease.
• Grow and repair cells.
• Maintain bodily functions (including breathing).

Types of Organisms Based on Nutrition in Plants

• Autotrophs (Self-feeders): Organisms that make their own food (e.g., plants). They obtain energy from sunlight and use it to produce food via processes such as photosynthesis.
• Heterotrophs: Organisms that cannot make their own food and obtain energy from consuming other organisms (e.g., animals, fungi).

Plant Oxygen Requirements

• Plants need oxygen from air spaces in the soil.
• Proper soil cultivation and care are crucial for plant oxygen intake.

Nutrient Requirements for Plants

• Plants need macronutrients (major nutrients) like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, potassium, and calcium.
• They also require micronutrients (trace amounts), like chlorine, iron, and manganese, for proper growth.
• Deficiency in nutrients can lead to discoloration or stunted development.

Nutritional Uptake by Plants

• Plants absorb nutrients through specialized proteins in their root cells.
• If the soil is compacted or saturated, oxygen availability is reduced, impacting plant health negatively.
• Nitrogen fixation in plants often involves symbiotic bacteria that work with roots to help uptake nitrogen.

Symbiosis in plants and soil microbes

• Important sources of nitrogen fixation in plants and the soil are symbiotic bacteria.
• These bacteria can increase nutrient availability.

Oxygen in Plant Respiration

• Plants use oxygen in cellular respiration to produce energy from glucose.
• This energy supports plant growth and maintenance.

Filter Feeders

• Many aquatic animals ('filter feeders'), like whales and some invertebrates, strain food particles or small organisms from water.

Symbiosis in plants and Fungi

• Fungi and some plants have symbiotic relationships.
• Fungi can enhance the plant's ability to absorb nutrients by extending the root system and facilitating intake of important minerals.

Parasitism in Plants

• Some plants are parasitic, relying on host plants for survival and extracting nutrients.
• Parasitic plants may lack leaves as they don't need photosynthesis for energy.

This quiz explores key concepts in plant and animal nutrition, including the processes of photosynthesis, dietary categories of animals, and methods of digestion. Understand how plants and animals acquire and use nutrients for growth and health.