multi-cellular primary producers: the plants
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Multi-cellular Primary Producers: The Plants. Worldwide, there are 5,000-6,000 species of seaweed and only 55 species of seagrass! Seagrasses are flowering plants belonging to the kingdom Plantae Not actually a grass - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Multi-cellular Primary Producers: The Plants
• Worldwide, there are 5,000-6,000 species of seaweed and only 55 species of seagrass!
• Seagrasses are flowering plants belonging to the kingdom Plantae– Not actually a grass– Related to lilies; evolved
from land plants!– True leaves, stems, and
roots
Seagrasses
• Underground roots and rhizomes (horizontal stems) extract nutrients from the sediment and hold the plant in its place
• Seagrasses have cell walls made out of cellulose (a characteristic of all plants) which provide support for the plant and keep the plant vertical in the water column
Seagrasses
• Seagrass provides important shelter and food for many marine inhabitants
• Because of the protection they provide, seagrass communities serve as important nursery grounds for developing fish & shellfish
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19727876@N00/415368318/
Common seagrass of Long Island
http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/cms/jgallagher/tigani/kt_index.html
Zostera marina (“Eel grass”)