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Frequently considered an ecosystem engineer, kelp provides a physical substrate and habitat for kelp forest communities. [16] In algae (kingdom Protista ), the body of an individual organism is known as a thallus rather than as a plant (kingdom Plantae ).
This happens because the ocean's primary producers are tiny phytoplankton which grow and reproduce rapidly, so a small mass can have a fast rate of primary production. In contrast, many significant terrestrial primary producers, such as mature forests , grow and reproduce slowly, so a much larger mass is needed to achieve the same rate of ...
More than 100,000 mobile invertebrates per square meter are found on kelp stipes and holdfasts in well-developed kelp forests. [30] While larger invertebrates and in particular sea urchins ( Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis ) are important secondary consumers controlling large barren ground areas on the Norwegian coast, they are scarce inside ...
Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans. [10] In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador. [11] Physically formed by brown macroalgae, kelp forests provide a unique habitat for marine organisms [12] and are a source for
Californian forest of giant kelp, a foundation species [1]. In ecology, the foundation species are species that have a strong role in structuring a community.A foundation species can occupy any trophic level in a food web (i.e., they can be primary producers, herbivores or predators).
A consumer in a food chain is a living creature that eats organisms from a different population. A consumer is a heterotroph and a producer is an autotroph . Like sea angels, they take in organic moles by consuming other organisms, so they are commonly called consumers.
Position in the food web, or trophic level, is used in ecology to broadly classify organisms as autotrophs or heterotrophs. This is a non-binary classification; some organisms (such as carnivorous plants) occupy the role of mixotrophs, or autotrophs that additionally obtain organic matter from non-atmospheric sources.
Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans. [55] In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador. [56] Physically formed by brown macroalgae, kelp forests provide a unique habitat for marine organisms [57] and are a source for