chemosynthesis
Producers that use photosynthesis, such as plants and certain algae, convert sunlight into energy by transforming carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, relying on light as their primary energy source. In contrast, producers that use chemosynthesis, like certain bacteria found in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, derive energy from chemical reactions, typically involving inorganic molecules like hydrogen sulfide, to produce organic compounds without the need for sunlight. While both types of producers are essential for their ecosystems, they operate in vastly different environments and energy contexts.
The heat from deep in the earth's mantle.
Few producers live deep below a lake's surface because light penetration decreases with depth, limiting photosynthesis. Without sufficient light, plants and algae struggle to photosynthesize and produce energy, resulting in fewer producers thriving in deep areas of lakes.
Heat from Earth's interior.
There are none. No sunlight penetrates that deep, so there is no sunlight for photosynthesis. Instead, bacteria use chemosynthesis. They take the chemicals in the water shooting out of the vents, and make it into food.
Bacteria. Algae need light to produce their food, so they're mostly closer to the surface, but some types of bacteria can ferment and produce their own food chemically, without the need for light as an energy source.
In the midnight zone, also known as the bathypelagic zone, there are no producers like plants or phytoplankton because sunlight does not penetrate this deep in the ocean. Instead, this zone relies on the organic matter that sinks from the upper layers of the ocean for energy. Some deep-sea organisms, such as certain bacteria, can utilize chemosynthesis, converting chemicals from hydrothermal vents into energy, but these are not traditional producers in the way we think of them in shallower, sunlit waters. Overall, the deep sea is largely a consumer-dominated ecosystem.
hydrogen sulfide
Yes, chemosynthetic bacteria are primary producers. They can utilize inorganic chemicals as an energy source to produce organic compounds through chemosynthesis, which serves as the foundation of certain ecosystems such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
During chemosynthesis, producers use inorganic compounds, primarily hydrogen sulfide or methane, as their energy source. They convert these compounds, along with carbon dioxide and water, into organic matter. This process occurs in environments lacking sunlight, such as deep-sea vents, and supports ecosystems by providing food for various organisms. Unlike photosynthesis, which relies on sunlight, chemosynthesis harnesses chemical energy from the environment.
So-called 'primary producers', organisms that produce biomass from simple chemical compounds and an external energy source. Plants are primary producers: they produce plant biomass from CO2 and water, using the sunlight as a source of energy. In the ocean, phytoplankton is responsible for most of the primary production. Some organisms use energy sources other than light to produce biomass. Some bacteria, for instance, derive their energy from the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds (e.g. H2S). In the deep sea, whole communities are supported by this kind of chemosynthesis.
Deep sea producers are the organisms that live so far down in the ocean, that they have to make their own food in order to live.