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Today, algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners, and livestock feed. [124] Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are either harvested or used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of aquaculture in some places.
Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, such as planktonic algae, play a vital role in capturing carbon and producing at least 50% of Earth's oxygen. [3] Natural seaweed ecosystems are sometimes under threat from human activity.
Various examples of aquatic hitchhiking algae that may be found in freshwater aquaria. There are many types of algae that are commonly found in a freshwater aquarium setting. Species may be unintentionally disseminated through spores and fragments that hitchhike on ornamental fish and plants purchased from aquarium suppliers. [1]
Red algae, a (disputed) phylum contains about 7,000 recognised species, [50] mostly multicellular and including many notable seaweeds. [50] [51] Brown algae form a class containing about 2,000 recognised species, [52] mostly multicellular and including many seaweeds such as kelp. Unlike higher plants, algae lack roots, stems, or leaves.
Another example is Sargassum, which creates unique floating mats of seaweed in the tropical waters of the Sargasso Sea that serve as the habitats for many species. Some members of the class, such as kelps, are used by humans as food. Between 1,500 and 2,000 species of brown algae are known worldwide. [5]
Marine botany is the study of flowering vascular plant species and marine algae that live in shallow seawater of the open ocean and the littoral zone, along shorelines of the intertidal zone, coastal wetlands, and low-salinity brackish water of estuaries. It is a branch of marine biology and botany.
This species of algae produces highly toxic extracts that are harmless toward smaller grazers including amphipods and polychaetes yet are capable of killing herbivorous reef fish. Death occurs within 10 hours of the algae's introduction to a well-aerated aquarium during which the fish will attempt to jump out.
Over 7,000 species are currently described for the red algae, [5] but the taxonomy is in constant flux with new species described each year. [41] [42] The vast majority of these are marine with about 200 that live only in fresh water. Some examples of species and genera of red algae are: Cyanidioschyzon merolae, a primitive red alga ...