Autotrophic Nutrition

Abstract

In the preceding two chapters an attempt was made to relate the feeding habits of protozoa in selected habitats to the kinds of rood available to them and to the competitive pressures from other organisms sharing these same niches. The logical pursuit of this theme is next to consider how the various groups of protozoa utilize the food which they have acquired. While recognizing that most protozoa are animal-like in their nutritional processes, provision must be made to include the range of flagellates, some of which are pigmented and light-dependent and others which, although pigmented, have the capacity to switch reversibly to alternative methods of nutrition in the absence of light.