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Protists are abundant and diverse in nearly all habitats. They contribute 4 gigatons (Gt) to Earth's biomass—double that of animals (2 Gt), but less than 1% of the total. Combined, protists, animals, archaea (7 Gt), and fungi (12 Gt) make up less than 10% of global biomass, with plants (450 Gt) and bacteria (70 Gt) dominating. [166]
A protist (/ ˈ p r oʊ t ɪ s t /) is any eukaryotic organism (one with cells containing a nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus.The protists do not form a natural group, or clade, since they exclude certain eukaryotes with whom they share a common ancestor; [a] but, like algae or invertebrates, the grouping is used for convenience.
All eukaryotes apart from animals, plants and fungi are considered protists. [1] Its field of study therefore overlaps with the more traditional disciplines of phycology , mycology , and protozoology , just as protists embrace mostly unicellular organisms described as algae , some organisms regarded previously as primitive fungi , and protozoa ...
Protists are distributed across all major groups of eukaryotes, including those that contain multicellular algae, green plants, animals, and fungi. If photosynthetic and fungal protists are distinguished from protozoa, they appear as shown in the phylogenetic tree of eukaryotic groups.
The term protist came into use historically as a term of convenience for eukaryotes that cannot be strictly classified as plants, animals or fungi. They are not a part of modern cladistics because they are paraphyletic (lacking a common ancestor for all descendants). Most protists are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
A mixotrophic plant using mycorrhizal fungi to obtain photosynthesis products from other plants. Amongst plants, mixotrophy classically applies to carnivorous, hemi-parasitic and myco-heterotrophic species. However, this characterisation as mixotrophic could be extended to a higher number of clades as research demonstrates that organic forms of ...
[3] [4] Living organisms that are heterotrophic include all animals and fungi, some bacteria and protists, [5] and many parasitic plants. The term heterotroph arose in microbiology in 1946 as part of a classification of microorganisms based on their type of nutrition. [6] The term is now used in many fields, such as ecology, in describing the ...
The oxygen released as a by-product of photosynthesis is needed by nearly all living things to carry out cellular respiration. In addition, primary producers are influential in the global carbon and water cycles. They stabilize coastal areas and can provide habitats for marine animals.