marine producers

diatoms

Phylum Bacillariophyta

• up to 50,000 species

• 25% of all photosynthetic biomass on earth

• most productive phytoplankton

dinoflagellates

Phylum Dinophyta

• bioluminescent (emit light when agitated)

• second most productive phytoplankton

• some live inside coral and provide the coral with food

• use a flagella to swim

• can cause harmful algal blooms

green algae

Phylum Chlorophyta

• 7000 species

• freshwater & saltwater

• chlorophyll A & chlorophyll B: helps capture light for photosynthesis

• land plants may have evolved from them

red algae

Phylum Rhodophyta

• 4000 species

• are the glue that hold coral reefs together

• have chlorophyll a, but not b

• can live deeper than any other algae

brown algae

Phylum Phaeophyta

• most structurally complex

• gas filled structures/floats (pneumatocysts)

• giant kelp largest type

• grow more than 30cm per day, 80ft tall

• sargassum creates large floating neuston communities s

sargassum

genus of brown algae with gas-filled bladders that allow it to float to large mats on the ocean surface

giant kelp

• grow more than 30 centimeters per day, reach the surface from 24 meters deep

• the foundation for many temperature coastal ecosystems

submergent plants

marine plant that lives entirely underwater

emergent plants

marine plant that lives partially submerged with its roots underwater and leaves/branches above water