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Furthermore, because seagrasses are underwater plants, they produce significant amounts of oxygen which oxygenate the water column. These meadows account for more than 10% of the ocean's total carbon storage. Per hectare, it holds twice as much carbon dioxide as rain forests and can sequester about 27.4 million tons of CO 2 annually. [85]
Seagrasses are flowering plants (angiosperms) which grow in marine environments. They evolved from terrestrial plants which migrated back into the ocean about 75 to 100 million years ago. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In the present day they occupy the sea bottom in shallow and sheltered coastal waters anchored in sand or mud bottoms.
The organisms require nutrient-rich water with temperatures between 6 and 14 °C (43 and 57 °F). They are known for their high growth rate—the genera Macrocystis and Nereocystis can grow as fast as half a metre a day (that is, about 20 inches a day), ultimately reaching 30 to 80 metres (100 to 260 ft). [7]
Marine plants can be found in intertidal zones and shallow waters, such as seagrasses like eelgrass and turtle grass, Thalassia. These plants have adapted to the high salinity of the ocean environment. Light is only able to penetrate the top 200 metres (660 ft) so this is the only part of the sea where plants can grow. [77]
[10] [11] [12] The small flowers are each borne by a peduncle. Female plants typically grow one green flower, while males often produce three to five pink or white flowers. [13] [14] [15] At night when male flowers are fully mature, they release mucilaginous pollen into the water column. [16] [17] [18] The following morning, female flowers open.
The characteristics of the Posidonia plant, its growth dynamics and the large amount of biomass produced, are factors that can sustain very diverse plant and animal communities. Distinguished are: epiphytic communities (that is, bacteria, algae and bryozoa that colonise the surface of the leaves and rhizomes of the plant), vagile and sessile ...
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.
An alternative offset would be to cultivate kelp forests. Kelp can grow at 2 feet per day, 30 times faster than terrestrial plants. Planting kelp across 10% of the oceans (4.5 x the area of Australia) could provide the same offset. Additionally, the kelp would support a fish harvest of 2 megatons per year and reduce ocean acidification. Large ...