Biotroph

Biotroph (Gr. Βίος bios "life" and τροφή trophé "nutrition") are organisms that use living plant or animal matter as food. The plants and animals stay alive for a long time.

The biotrophic organisms include, in particular, the phyto- parasites and the zooparasites, but also symbionts such as the mycorrhizal fungi and the nodule bacteria .

If the food organisms die quickly, the organisms that feed on them are called necrotrophic , as opposed to biotrophic .

In a broader sense, biotrophic can refer to all organisms that feed on living organic matter, including phytotrophic (plants as food), zootrophic (animals as food), and microtrophic (microorganisms as food) organisms.

The article Heterotrophy provides an overview of other forms of socialization of different types of organisms . Organisms that feed independently of others are autotrophic .

literature

• Matthias Schaefer: Dictionary of Ecology . 4th edition, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg, Berlin 2003, p. 52. ISBN 3-8274-0167-4