1. Chapter 6 – Producers: Seaweeds and Plants

2. The Domains of Life

3. Introduction
Nonplant photosynthetic organisms include photosynthetic bacteria and unicellular algae and the seaweeds.
The seaweeds are “plant-like” because they are multicellular primary producers. A few seaweeds are actually not primary producers but instead parasite other seaweeds.

4. Kingdom Protista – Seaweeds (algae)

5. Kingdom Plantae – Plants

6. Introduction to Multicellular Algae
Seaweeds= macrophytes =macroalgae
All multicellular (unicellular green and brown algae are not seaweeds)
Eukaryotic
There is a large variety of seaweeds

7. General Structure Seaweeds Lack true leaves, stem, and roots of plants
Have the following structures:
Thallus – complete body of seaweed
Blade – leaf-like flattened portion of thallus. This provides a large surface area for photosynthesis. They have no veins.
Pneumatocysts – gas-filled blades used for floatation
Stipe – stem (with no vascular tissue)
Holdfast – attaches the thallus to the bottom (not roots). No water/nutrient transport system.

8. Algal (macrophyte) structure

9. Types of Seaweeds There are three types of seaweed:
Green
Brown
Red
It is not always easy to rely on color for identification. Sometimes chemical analysis of pigments may be needed.

10. Kingdom Protista – Seaweeds (algae)

11. Marine algae in an Oregon Intertidal Zone

12. Types of Seaweeds Green Algae Phylum Chlorophyta
Only about 10% of 7,000 species are marine (most of them are unicellular).
They are very common in some marine environments.
Typically they are bright green because the chlorophyll is not masked by other pigments.

13. Phylum Chlorophyta – Green Algae

14. Types of Seaweeds Some types of green algae:
Filamentous – filaments may be branched or not
Enteromorpha – have a thin thallus form a hollow tube and are found in areas of high pollution.
Sea lettuce (Ulva) – paper-thin sheets
Valonia – forms large spheres in the tropics and subtropics
Caulerpa – single tube with multiple nuclei
Dead man’s fingers – (Codium) – multinucleated filaments woven into a spongy branching thallus.
Halimeda – calcareous green algae – thallus contains filaments that contain calcium carbonate, when it dies, it plays a role in the formation of coral reefs.

15. Green Algae
Chaetomorpha
Bryopsis

16. Green Algae
Ulva
Enteromorpha

17. Green Algae
Halimeda
…a calcareous reef building alga

18. Phylum: Heterokontophyta, Class: Phaeophyta
Types of Seaweed
Brown Algae
Phylum: Heterokontophyta, Class: Phaeophyta
Anatomy:
Brown color comes from more fucoxanthin (yellow-brown pigment) than chlorophyll.
Almost all species are marine

19. Phylum Heterokontophyta: Class Phaeophyta – Brown Algae

20. Types of Seaweed Brown Algae Some examples of Phaeophyta
Kelps (Laminaria, Agarum, Alaria, Egregia, Eisenia, Nereocystis, Macrocystis)
Ectocarpus
Dictyota
Padina
Desmares
Fucus – Rockweed or wracks (exposed at low tide)
Sargassum – spherical air bladders that keep it afloat

21. Brown Algae
Leathesia
Scytosiphon

22. Brown Algae
Egregia
Laminaria

23. Brown Algae
Postelsia

24. Brown Algae
Macrocystis -- Kelp

25. Brown Algae
Macrocystis -- Kelp

26. Types of Seaweeds Red Algae Phylum: Rhodophyta
Most common of the three.
Have red pigments called phycobilins which mask chlorophyll.
Mostly marine
Not as complex as brown algae, some are parasites, others have lost their chlorophyll and become heterotrophs
Most are filamentous

27. Class Rhodophyta – Red Algae

28. Types of Seaweed Red Algae Examples:
Gelidium and Gracilaria are found worldwide
Endocladia forms wiry clumps on rocks
Gigartina – one of the most massive red algae (blades up to 2m long)
Porophyta – found on rocky shores
Rhodymenia – found in the Atlantic – blades can reach 1m long
Chondrus – Iris moss
Corallina – red algae that deposit calcium carbonate – involved in the creation of coral reefs.

29. Red Algae
Calliarthron
Melobesia

30. Red Algae
Corallina
Palmaria

31. Red Algae
Microcladia
Entocladia

32. Red Algae
Mazzaella
Mastocarpus

33. Life History
Asexual reproduction is more important than sexual reproduction.
Some seaweeds produce spores (that can live dormant in unfavorable conditions)
Some have a thick wall
Zoospores have a flagella
Sexual reproduction (with the production of gametes) is common in seaweeds. This ensures genetic variation.
Turn your textbooks the page 107.

36. Algae as a Human Resource

37. Economic Importance
Farming or mariculture of seaweed occurs all over the world.
Seaweeds produce several types of gelatinous chemicals called phycocolloids.
Algin (an important phycocolloid) has many uses (frosting, dairy products, shampoo, shaving cream, plastics, pesticides, etc.) It is found in kelp (Macrocystis).

38. Economic Importance
Carrageenan (another important phycocolloid) found in red algae, it is used in dairy products as well as a variety of processed foods.
Agar (another important phycocolloid) protects ham, fish, and meats during canning, in low calorie foods, and as a thickener. It is also used in research.
Some other uses for seaweeds includes fertilizers, food additives, and wound dressing in hospitals.

39. Phycocolloids
Algin (brown algae)
Carrageenan (red algae)

40. Phycocolloids
Agar (red algae)

41. Class Rhodophyta – Red Algae
Porphyra

42. Algae products and harvest

43. Edible Algae
Evelyn McConnaughey
OIMB

44. Kingdom Plantae – Plants

45. Introduction to Flowering Plants
There are 250,000 species of flowering plants (common name: angiosperms)/(phylum or division: Magnoliophyta)
Few live in the ocean
They have true leaves, stems, and roots (that transport nutrients and water).
They belong to the kingdom plantae
Reproduction involves an elaborate reproductive organ, the flower.
Most of these species are not truly marine (only the seagrasses are). The others spend some time (at high tide submersed or just their roots are submersed).

46. Seagrass bed

47. Seagrasses
Seem to resemble grass but are not grasses. They are most closely related to the lily family.
Horizontal stems called rhizomes.
Flowers are small and inconspicuous
Pollen is carried by water currents
Eelgrass or Zostera (50-60 species known), it is found in oxygen poor beds
Surf grass inhabits areas on rocky coasts exposed to wave action.

48. Phylum Anthophyta Flowering Plants Angiosperms Mangrove flowers
Seagrass flower

49. Sea grass bed at lower edge of the intertidal zone

50. Seagrasses
roots and rhizomes

51. Common Seagrass genera

52. Seagrass genera in Califronia waters
2 species
3 species

53. Zostera

54. Phyllospadix

55. Seagrasses are flowering plants
Reproductive plants
flower
Fruit with seeds

56. Salt Marsh
Medcalfe Marsh, near Charleston, Oregon

57. Salt-Marsh Plants
Cordgrasses are true members of the grass family – they are not really marine. They just tolerate the salt air and spray.
Tolerant plants called halophyles live in salt marshes but keep their leaves above water. Many of them have leaves that contain salt glands.

58. Salt marsh – mudflat system

59. Salt Marsh plants
Salicornia (pickleweed)

60. Salt Marsh plants
Spartina (cordgrass)

61. Mangroves
Trees and shrubs adapted to living along tropical and subtropical shores around the world.
More than 80 different species of plants share the common name “mangrove”.
Red mangroves are found in areas without frost. Some adaptations of red mangrove are: thick leaves, seeds germinate while still attached to the parent tree. (Like a pencil, once mature, it falls and sticks into the mud)

62. Mangroves
Mangroves thrive in salty environments and are able to obtain freshwater from saltwater.
Some spp. secrete excess salt through their leaves while other block absorption of salt at their roots.

63. Mangrove Impacts
At one time, nearly 0.5 million acres of mangroves surrounded Florida’s coastal zone contributing to ecosystem health in a variety of ways.
-Trap and cycle organics, chemical elements, sediment and minerals.
-Provide shelter for marine organisms.

64. Mangrove

65. Mangrove seedling

66. Salt Marshes and Mangroves