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Marine Phyla Pages -- Coastal Carolina University MARINE PLANTS |
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When most people think of marine "plants," they are really thinking about seaweed, or macroalgae. Macroalgae, are not plants at all, even though they are photosynthetic. Depending on the classification scheme, macroalgae either fall (rather awkwardly) under the Kingdom Protista, or they comprise their own separate group. True plants have cell walls, roots, stems (usually), leaves, and internal vasculature for the transport of nutrients and water. Angiosperms (flowering plants) are the dominant group of plants and form fruits and seeds in addition to flowers. Many marine angiosperms are well known to coastal inhabitants, as they are common in shallow coastal waters and estuaries. The major groups include seagrasses, which live their lives totally submerged in most cases, and 2 major groups of emergent plants: salt marsh plants and mangroves (emergent plants are rooted in submerged sediments for at least part of the tidal cycle, but some portion of the plant generally remains above the water). Mangrove forests, or "mangals," replace salt marshes in warmer tropical waters. Two terrestrial plant communities are often mentioned in marine biology courses as well, due to their proximity to the coast and adaptations for salt spray and coastal habitats. These are the dune plant communities and the maritime forest.
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