heterotrophic
het-uh-ruh-TROF-ik
Definition
Relating to an organism that cannot produce its own food and must instead consume other organisms or organic matter for nutrition.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Greek 'heteros' (other) and 'trophikos' (pertaining to food or nourishment), describing an organism that feeds on 'other' sources.
In the news
The article uses 'heterotrophic' to describe the respiration of decomposers that feed on the organic matter produced by plants, illustrating how oxygen is consumed in forest ecosystems.
The Amazon is often called “the lungs of the Earth,” but a mature rainforest's net oxygen contribution is close to zero — nearly all the oxygen made by photosynthesis is consumed again by respiration and decay. Ocean phytoplankton generate roughly half of E
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com