Chapter 6

Multicellular Primary
Producers:
seaweeds and plants

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 Non-plant photosynthetic
organisms

Photosynthetic bacteria, unicellular algae and

seaweeds
 Multicellular algae:
the seaweeds
Also called macrophytes,
macroalgae, macrobenthic algae
Classification of seaweeds and marine plants
 Characters
all eukaryotes
all multicellular

lack highly specialized

structures and
reproductive mechanisms
characteristics of land
plants
5
Figure 6.01

General structure
 General structure

Thallus( 葉狀體 )
 Blades( 葉片 ); 2 characters
(no vein, identical on both
sides)
 Pneumatocyst ( 氣泡 )
 Stipe ( 莖片 )
 Holdfast ( 固著器 )

-- lack of transport abilities 7

 Three types of seaweed
 Green algae

 Brown algae

 Red algae

-- Differences depends on the

proportion of different pigments
8
Green algae

9
 Green algae
 Phylum Chlorophyta
 Most restricted to freshwater and
terrestrial environments
 7000 species; 10% is marine; many are
unicellular
 Distributed mainly in the bays, estuaries
and isolated tidal pools
 land plants may evolved directly from
green algae
 chlorophyll pigment
10
Figure 6.02 bottom

sea lettuce Ulva( 海萵苣 )

Dead man’s finger

-- extend from tropical to

temperate waters
Calcareous green algae
Figure 6.04

Brown algae
 Brown algae
 Phylum Heterokontophyta, Class
Phacophyta
 Fucoxanthin( 褐藻素 ) dominate
over chlorophyll
 primary producers on temperate
and polar rocky coasts
 Almost 1500 species are marines
 Include the largest and most
complex seaweeds
15
Figure 6.05

rockweeds or wrack
Figure 6.06

rockweeds or wrack
Floating algae; Sargasso Sea,

Kelps: great abundance in temperate

and sub-polar latitudes.
-- form kelp beds or forest

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kelp
Kelp forest
 Kelps
• Found in deeper water below the
lowest tide level
• Can grow at least 50 cm per day in
optimal condition, reaches 100 m
• Among the richest, most productive
environment in marine realm

20
Figure 6.09

Red algae
Red algae
 Phylum Rhodophyta
 red pigments; phycobilins mask
chlorophyll
 The largest group of seaweeds, about
4000 species; most exclusively marine
 Found in most shallow water marine
environment
 Filamentous red algae and flatter
branches
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Coralline red algae

23
 Coralline red algae
 Smooth or rough encrusting growth on
rocks

 Warm-water coralline red algae actively

involve in formation and development of
coral reefs.

24
Life history (reproduction)
Asexual reproduction

and
sexual reproduction
 Asexual reproduction
 vegetative reproduction
-- (1) fragments of thallus, (2)
produce spores

 zoospore ( 游動孢子 )

26
 Sexual reproduction

create gametes and form

zygotes
 Four basic patterns
(types) of reproduction

28
Figure 6.11a

Type A: most common among all groups of seaweeds

Figure 6.11b
Type B: unique to red algae
-- 3 generations
Figure 6.11c

Type C: some green and brown algaes

-- similar to the
sexual reproduction
Figure 6.11d

Type D: in some green algaes

 Gamete development can be
influenced by:
(1) amount of nutrients, (2) temperature,
(3) length of day light

Trigger factors :
splashing of incoming tide, or by chemical
messagers
of opposite sex.
-- Some male and female gametes timed
to release at the same time
33
Figure 6.12
Economic importance
Farming or mariculture of seaweeds
Economic importance
--
Phycocollids
-- Algin
-- carrageenan
-- Agar;
-- Seaweeds 35
Economic importance
 Phycocollids: food processing; form
suspension and gel
 Algin: stabilizer and emulsifier, baking,
chemical industries, pharmaceutical, texture,
etc.
 Carrageenan: emulsifier, diaery products
 Agar: foods, canning, cosmetics, medicine
 Seaweeds: fertilizer, hospitals, nutritional
supplements, reduce soil acidity
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 Flowering plants
• about 250000 species, or
angiosperms
• Divison Magnoliophyta
-- Kingdom Plantae
• True roots, leaves, stem; specialized
tissue for transport materials
• Reporduction by sporophyte (flower)
37
 Seagrass
Truly marine plants

Characters; (1) rhizomes, (2)

pollens are long and thread-like ;
transported by water column of animal feces

38
Figure 6.13a

Seagrass
Figure 6.13b

Eelgrass
-- about 60 species

-- in many temperate and

tropical regions
-- inhabits shallow, well-protected
coastal waters
-- distinctively flat,
ribbon-like leaves

-- in oxygen-poor sediment
Salt marsh plants

41
 Salt marsh plants
 Cordgrass, land-plants tolerant of salt
 Live in salt marshes and other
temperate soft-bottom coastal areas
 Submerged by seawater only at high
tide
 halophytes

42
 Functions of Salt marsh

 Highlyproductive, provide habitat and

breeding grounds for many commercial
species

 Protectionagainst erosion and provide

natural water purification system

43
Figure 6.14

Mangrove
 Mangrove
 Shrubs and trees adapted to live
along tropical and subtropical
shores

 Essentially land plants that can

tolerate salt

 About 80 mostly unrelated species

of flowering plants
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Adaptations

prop roots
Viviparous seed Waxed leaves