Seaweed

• Womenscorner Desk
• October 14, 2020

Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to many species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some sorts of Rhodophyta (red), Phaeophyta (brown) and Chlorophyta (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species like kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, like phytoplankton , play an important role in capturing carbon, producing up to 90% of Earth's oxygen. Understanding these roles offers principles for conservation and sustainable use. Mechanical dredging of kelp, as an example , destroys the resource and dependent fisheries.

Taxonomy : "Seaweed" lacks a proper definition. Generally it's one among several groups of multicellular algae: red, green and brown. They lack a standard multicellular ancestor, forming a polyphyletic group. additionally , bluegreen algae (Cyanobacteria) are occasionally considered in seaweed litterature. The number of seaweed species remains discussed among scientists, but presumably there are several thousand species of seaweed.

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Anatomy : Seaweed's appearance resembles non-arboreal terrestrial plants. Its anatomy includes:

Thallus: algal body

Lamina or blade: flattened structure that's somewhat leaf-like

Sorus: spore cluster

pneumatocyst, air bladder: a flotation-assisting organ on the blade

Kelp, float: a flotation-assisting organ between the lamina and stipe

Stipe: stem-like structure, could also be absent

Holdfast: basal structure providing attachment to a substrate

Haptera: finger-like extension of the holdfast that anchors to a benthic substrate.

The stipe and blade are collectively referred to as the frond.

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