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The term algae encompasses many types of aquatic photosynthetic organisms, both macroscopic multicellular organisms like seaweed and microscopic unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria. Algal bloom commonly refers to the rapid growth of microscopic unicellular algae, not macroscopic algae.
Algae have photosynthetic machinery ultimately derived from cyanobacteria that produce oxygen as a byproduct of splitting water molecules, unlike other organisms that conduct anoxygenic photosynthesis such as purple and green sulfur bacteria. Fossilized filamentous algae from the Vindhya basin have been dated to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago. [11]
They account for about half of global photosynthetic activity and at least half of the oxygen production, despite amounting to only about 1% of the global plant biomass. Phytoplankton are very diverse, comprising photosynthesizing bacteria (cyanobacteria) and various unicellular protist groups (notably the diatoms).
Some dinoflagellates are known to be photosynthetic, but a large fraction of these are in fact mixotrophic, combining photosynthesis with ingestion of prey (phagotrophy). [76] Some species are endosymbionts of marine animals and other protists, and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs .
Microalgae, capable of performing photosynthesis, are important for life on earth; they produce approximately half of the atmospheric oxygen [2] and use the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to grow photoautotrophically. "Marine photosynthesis is dominated by microalgae, which together with cyanobacteria, are collectively called phytoplankton."
The term algae encompasses many types of aquatic photosynthetic organisms, both macroscopic multicellular organisms like seaweed and microscopic unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria. [2] Algal bloom commonly refers to the rapid growth of microscopic unicellular algae, not macroscopic algae. [3]
Part of the contents of one dip of a hand net.The image contains diverse planktonic organisms, ranging from photosynthetic cyanobacteria and diatoms to many different types of zooplankton, including both holoplankton (permanent residents of the plankton) and meroplankton (temporary residents of the plankton, e.g., fish eggs, crab larvae, worm larvae).
In aquatic habitats, unicellular cyanobacteria are considered as an important group regarding abundance, diversity, and ecological character. [47] Unicellular cyanobacteria have spherical, ovoid, or cylindrical cells that may aggregate into irregular or regular colonies bound together by the mucous matrix ( mucilage ) secreted during the growth ...