Nutrition

Animals are consumers that get their power from producers, who in turn derive their power from a number of sources.

Most animals grow by ultimately using the energy of daylight. Plants use this energy to change carbon dioxide into simple sugars using a procedure known as photosynthesis. Initially with the molecules and water, photosynthesis converts the power of sunlight into compound energy stored in the bonds of glucose and releases oxygen. These sugars are then used as the structure blocks which allow the plant to raise. When animals eat these plants, the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used straight to help the animal grow, or busted down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for movement. This process is known as glycolysis.

Many animals that live secure to hydrothermal vents and cold seeps on the ocean floor are not needy on the energy of sunlight for their food. Instead, chemosynthetic archaea and eubacteria form the bottom of the food chain. These creatures use the energy from compounds seeping from the vents to control the manufacture of sugars and other molecules, and animals live by either intake those microbes them within their tissues.