The Relationship Between Oxygen And Nitrogen Plant Oxygen Plant
The plants on which oxygen is produced, called “heterotrophic plants”, or photosynthetic life forms, require different amounts of oxygen and nitrogen in order to grow well and maintain their respiration. Plants, at the other extreme, called “autotrophic plants” do not need either oxygen or nitrogen to grow well, but they do use both of those elements for respiration (the process by which plants convert food into carbon dioxide). In a very simple model of nature, it would be a case of plants which produce nothing but energy and nitrogen, and in which all other plants use up carbon dioxide exclusively. The plants, which are in a diseased state, such as the leaves of a forest, will be an example of heterotrophic plants. And the plants which are photosynthesizing and thus using up carbon dioxide to form food will be an example of autotrophic plants.
This is not to say that oxygen can’t play a role in the life of plants, because plants in nature also use up nitrogen. Nitrogen, together with oxygen, are the two most common components in living organisms. Plants need both oxygen and nitrogen to grow, thrive, and reproduce.
Now while some might argue that plants can obtain these nutrients through eating plants, this is not how plant physiology works and cannot account for the massive amounts of carbon dioxide we find in the air. To get carbon dioxide, the plants consume carbon dioxide, which is also used up in respiration before being recycled to form food. It would therefore be reasonable to assume that these organisms are capable of receiving the nutrients from plant food. This is what makes up the argument concerning why plants can get carbon dioxide without having to consume it in the first place-absent any additional effort on the part of the plant.