Chemosynthesis

As you can see from the video to the right, life can thrive almost any where.

The video shows an isolated cave, without any sunlight, yet there is a complex ecosystem living within. As you know at the beginning of every ecosystem, there must be a producer.

So without sunlight, how can there be a producer?

The video to the left explains how small microorganisms within the cave under go Chemosynthesis.

In chemosynthesis organisms release energy from inorganic molecules. Some bacteria can convert ammonium ions to nitrate ion, sulfide ions to sulfate ions or Nitrite ions to nitrate.

A common example of chemosynthetic organisms is the Giant tube worm (to the right).

This organism lives deep down in the ocean near hydrothermal vents. Bacteria within these organisms rely on bacteria that live inside them for food. The bacteria convert the chemicals from the hydrothermal vents into organic molecules, giving the worm food.