Question

Distinguish between: Autotrophic nutrition and heterotrophic nutrition.

Answer 1

Hint: Organisms require food to get nourishment and energy. Nourishment which is derived from the nutrition contained in the food helps the organism to survive and carry out biological processes.

Complete answer:
Organisms that use substances present in the environment in their raw form and produce complex compounds are considered to have autotrophic nutrition, while those organisms that cannot produce their food depend on other organisms for food supply considered to have heterotrophic nutrition.

Autotrophic Nutrition	Heterotrophic Nutrition
It is a mode of nutrition in which the organism is capable of preparing their own food.	It is a mode of nutrition in which organisms are not capable of producing their own food.
In this nutritional process, the organisms are independent of other organisms for food supply.	In this nutritional process, organisms are dependent on other organisms for food as nourishment.
This mode of nutrition involves the preparation of food using carbon dioxide, and water in the presence of sunlight via the process of photosynthesis.	In this mode of nutrition, no photosynthetic activities occur.
Those organisms that employ this nutrition mode are known as producers in the food chain.	Those organisms that employ this mode of nutrition are known as consumers in the food chain.
In an autotrophic mode of nutrition, simple organic substances are converted into complex organic substances.	This nutrition mode involves the consumption of complex organic substances and then digested to break down into simpler organic substances.
This mode of nutrition occurs in plants, some blue-green algae, and bacteria.	This mode of nutrition occurs in all animals, fungi, and other non-photosynthetic organisms.

Note:
Certain plants and bacteria contain green pigment i.e. chlorophyll which helps in synthesizing food, whereas some plants, animals, and bacteria depend on others for food as they lack photosynthetic apparatus.