Nutrition

( " Nurture " spätlat. nutritio " diet ", lat nutrire ) malnutrition or nutrition is understood in animals, the uptake of organic and inorganic substances, nutrients that may be present in the diet in solid, liquid, gaseous or dissolved form. With the help of these substances the body substance is established or renewed and covered the necessary for all life processes energy needs.

In ecology is examined, which claims is a living being with regard to the diet to its environment ( autecology ), in which interactions it is ( Synecology ) and the impact on the food to other beings these relationships on the development of a population have ( population ecology ). In addition, in ecology, the total supply of nutrients ( trophic ) an ecosystem is studied.

Different branches of biology deal with other aspects of the diet:

• Anatomy and morphology: Construction of the mouthparts and digestive tract in animals or the transport systems in plants.
• Nutrition: intake, digestion, absorption, excretion and utilization ( metabolism) of nutrients
• Ethology: innate or learned behaviors of animals during foraging and brood care.
• Evolutionary biology: evolution and adaptation of food systems in evolution.

• 6.1 material cycle
• 6.2 Relationships and interactions

Food types

A classification of living things for food types on the basis of the food source, that is what they feed on. In animals, there is a connection between their food spectrum and the formation of the mouthparts and digestive tract. In general, an animal fed not only by a food type. So many carnivores regularly, on albeit in small quantities, plants. On the other hand, take no herbivores animals as food.

The Greek suffix - phage or - phagie comes from ancient Greek φαγεῖν phagein "eat" from. The suffix vore comes from the Latin vorare " devour ".

Animals

It is divided into three supergroups:

• Omnivores ( omnivores )
• Carnivores ( Carnivora ) and
• Herbivores ( herbivores ) in the broadest sense

Specialization types

Depending on the degree of specialization (ecological valence ) in the food spectrum are divided into different groups and subgroups animals:

• Generalists are animals that have a wide range of plant and animal food. These animals are referred to as euryphag (Greek εὐρύς Eurys "wide" ) or omnivorous (Latin omnis, " all "). Pantophag (Greek παντὸς Pantos "everything" ), everything edible eating, are, for example, pork, duck or carp.
• Polyphagous (Greek πολύς polys " much") are, for example, insectivores, cloven-hoofed animals and big cats. They feed mainly from a food type, but accept many different kinds of this type.

• Oligophagous (Greek oligos ὀλίγος " little " ) are, for example, some caterpillars or the koala who can only eat a few Eucalyptus species.
• Mono phage (Greek μόνος monos "alone" ) are organisms that are dependent on a single plant or animal species as a food source, for example, some parasites.

Type of food intake

After the feeding method, organisms can be classified into different types.

• Filter feeders usually tightly ( sessile ) live in the water, which they refer to small food particles or micro-organisms ( plankton, bacteria). Examples are tunicates, mussels, baleen whales, ducks and flamingos.
• Reabsorbers absorb nutrients from the surrounding medium through the body surface. These include many parasites such as the tapeworm.
• Remove suckers living organisms dissolved nutrients: Bloodsuckers are numerous ectoparasites as a few species of bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, ticks, leeches or lampreys.
• Sap suckers are, for example, cicadas, aphids or most species of bugs. Since these organisms harm their hosts, they are also referred to as parasites. Although bumblebees and bees are also sap suckers, but since they did not harm their host plant, but ensure their pollination, this community is a symbiosis.

Type of food acquisition

According to the art of food acquisition can be assigned to different types of animals:

• Grazers are herbivores that erode their forage plants only to the extent that they can grow back. They include ungulates, marmots, giant kangaroos and geese. As the crown of thorns starfish grazing on coral, but by die off completely.
• Collectors put either a food supply for the winter on (Squirrel) or keep a surplus of prey or food particles in places that are inaccessible to competitors, such as the Red-backed Shrike.
• Hunter ( outdated predators ) prey on other animals, kill them and start immediately after the seizure. Examples are ground beetles, dragonflies, assassin bugs. Depending on the hunting technique differentiates: Hetzjäger, sometimes pursuing their prey over long distances and a long time (Wolf, Cheetah ).
• Lauer hunters on a raised hide ( Buzzard ) or wait in hiding (eg pike ) until prey came within reach. These hunters are well adapted to their environment in general ( camouflage, mimicry at the Mantis ), some have the ability to attract their prey ( angler fish).
• Trappers are animals that lurk for their prey and catch them with nets ( spiders ) or pitfalls ( Antlion ).

Plant

Plants meet their nutritional needs are generally through photosynthesis, they are " self- nurturing " ( autotrophic ). In this case, the nutritive elements above gaseous inorganic molecules containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen may contain, for construction of organic molecules are added. Nutrient salts (nitrate, phosphate and sulfate), as well as trace elements such as boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese and the like take land plants on the water from the soil, water plants from the surrounding water.

Among the motile, autotrophic protists ( protozoa ), there are also forms that can go on ( lack of light ) when needed a heterotrophic lifestyle, they are mixotrophically or amphitroph such as Euglena viridis.

Among the plants, there are also ways of life, reminiscent of the foraging of animals:

• Full Parasites are plants that can not photosynthesize and therefore on Saugfortsätze ( haustoria ) derive a portion of Assimilatstromes their host plants for themselves. These plants are not green because of the lack chlorophyll. An example is Rafflesia.
• Half parasites such as mistletoes operate even though photosynthesis, but refer to the host plant water and nutrient salts.
• Mykotrophe plants go food symbioses with fungi on: The heterotrophic fungi obtained from the plant assimilates, which for an improved water and Nährsalzversorgung obtained ( myco - autotrophic plants Examples: mycorrhizae, lichens). An extreme case of this diet are the myco - heterotrophic plants or vollmykotrophen: they are due to missing or too low chlorophyll content no longer able to adequately carry out photosynthesis, and are completely fed by their Mykorrhizapartnern, such as Geosiris aphylla.

In order to thrive in soils that contain too little nitrogen-containing nutrient salts have evolved in plants two strategies.

• Insectivores plants ( colloquially " Carnivorous plants" ) such as sundew, pitcher plant and Sarracenia, water hose and Butterwort have developed various case mechanisms by which they can catch and digest insects.
• Plants live together with heterotrophic organisms that can provide them with the necessary nutrient salts: Leguminous plants live in symbiosis with nodule bacteria that can convert atmospheric nitrogen to nitrate and passed on to the host plant. Since the bacteria in small tissue growths ( " nodules "), the root of the host plant life, makes this Le nership with the deceased represents an endosymbiosis
• Unicellular green algae are endosymbionts in many coral species, which can therefore thrive only in the light.

Stockpiling

All organisms store nutrients in cellular organelles, storage tissues or storage organs. In addition, forms of storage of food have evolved in the animal kingdom:

• Collectors such as the squirrel lay Inventories to food is scarce winter.
• Harvester ants ( the genus Messor in the Mediterranean or the genus Pogonomyrmex in North America) save grass and cereal seeds in their construction.
• Honey bees store pollen and honey they have made ​​for preservation in the honey stomach from the collected nectar into the honeycomb of their construction.
• In some desert ants store some individuals, the " honey pots " nectar in their stomachs. In special chambers they wait until they are visited by the workers, to which they then pass on part of the stomach contents.
• Leaf cutter ants put fungus gardens in their construction. As a substrate for the fungi are of them harvested and chewed leaf pieces. The mycelium of the fungus bred by them constitutes their only food

Stockpiling is often associated with an extremely economical utilization of the feed, in which even the smallest waste can be used. At the other extreme are animals that use their food very uneconomical and absorb only small amounts of one portion and leave the rest. They are called food wasters. Many fruit -eaters are also included.

Brood care

Juveniles who initially can not feed themselves independently, either from a yolk sac feeds ( fish) or fed by their parents. In some birds ( pigeons) in the crop of the parents takes place first a pre-digestion. The chyme ( " crop milk " ) is on the pups passed ( trophallaxis ). In all animals the newborn teats are nourished by the milk from the mammary glands.

Interactions in the biological community

Within a community ( biocenosis ) an ecosystem, many organisms are interdependent due to an exchange of nutrients.

Material cycle

Within the consumer of an ecosystem can be a hierarchy of nutrition dependencies notice (see food chain, food web and food pyramid): consumers first order ( primary consumers ) are animals that feed directly on the producers (eg herbivores ), consumer second-order feed on the the consumer first order, and so on, at the end of this hierarchy is the "end-users " ( top predators ).

Producers are called primary producers because they are used as the first in the food chain body substance from which to feed the consumers. Since consumers build body substance, of the other consumers can eat, these are referred to as secondary producers.

Relationships and interrelationships

There are numerous one-sided or reciprocal relations, of which the time the food relationships are the best studied among the individuals of a biological community. These relationships are effective not only at the level of individuals but also at the level of populations of each species in an ecosystem: Nutrient supply not only affect the survival and reproductive ability of the individual ( fitness), but also on the development of the population density of a species in an ecosystem:

Relations

• Pro-, para- and Metabiose: A → ( ) B: organisms or type A or type B food supplies beings, whereby the efficiency of B is increased.
• Antibiotics: A → (-) B: A eats B, whereby B is damaged.
• Abiose: A → (0 ) B: The presence of A in the same habitat ( biotope) has no effect on B. ( This is due to numerous unknown parameters and relationships in general difficult to detect in natural ecosystems ).

Correlations in most cases exist between the individuals of an ecosystem significant amount of interaction. This food relationships can be combined with other forms of interaction: For example, the honey bee receives from the flowering plant pollen and nectar as food and allows the pollination of the flower.

Overview:

German nutritionists

• Wolfgang Feil (* 1959)
• Hannelore Daniel (* 1954)
• Hans- Konrad Biesalski ( b. 1949 )
• Volker Poodle (1944-2009)
• Claus Leitz (b. 1933)
• Gertrud Rehner (* 1926)
• John Yudkin (1910-1995)
• Hans Adalbert Schweigart (1900-1972)

Notes and sources