Primary producers are those organisms in an ecosystem The term ecosystems refers to the combined physical and biological components of an environment. An ecosystem is generally an area within the natural environment in which physical factors of the environment, such as rocks and soil, function together along with interdependent (biotic) organisms, such as plants and animals, within the same habitat that produce biomass from inorganic compounds (autotrophs An autotroph [α] is an organism that produces complex organic compounds from simple inorganic molecules using energy from light or inorganic chemical reactions). In almost all cases these are photosynthetically active organisms (plants, cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria or Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: κυανός = blue). They are a significant component of the marine nitrogen cycle and an important primary and a number of other unicellular organisms; see article on photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since it allows them to create their own food. In plants, algae and). However, there are examples of archea (unicellular organisms) that produce biomass from the oxidation Redox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. This can be either a simple redox process such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane (CH4), or it can be a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar in the human body of inorganic chemical compounds (chemoautotrophs) in hydrothermal vents A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots in the deep ocean.
Fungi and other organisms who gain their biomass from oxidizing organic materials are called reducers and are not primary producers.
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