How do plants adapt to the marine biome?

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A biome is a large geographical area often referred to as an ecosystem. Three main areas classified as the marine biome include oceans, the largest of all the ecosystems; coral reefs and estuaries. The separate regions of the ocean — intertidal, pelagic, abyssal and benthic — all contain a great variety of plant and animal species.

Plants that live in the ocean or along the shore are called marine plants. Examples of these are palm trees found on beaches in tropical regions, or mangrove trees that grow by the shore in shallow water. Tall sea grasses grow near bay water in more temperate regions.

Marine plants are traditionally classified in the kingdom Plantae, bearing stems, leaves and roots. According to some researchers, green algae is grouped with its plant neighbors. Algae engages in a photosynthesizing process similar to that of plants by capturing solar energy and producing oxygen. In this classification system, plants are clustered with algae as archaeplastida, a major group of eukaryotes, which are organisms whose cells contain certain complex configurations, such as a nucleus. However, some sources separate algae from plants and classify the chlorophyll-producing algae in the kingdom Protista. According to these sources, this photosynthesizing organism found in oceans is considered to be “simple” and “plant-like” because it does not have true stems, roots or leaves. Seaweed is considered to be a type of multicellular algae.

Where ocean and land come together at the intertidal region, the marine community shifts and varies with the ebb and flow of the tide. Eelgrass is an important ocean plant in the temperate North American region. Eelgrass has adapted to marine life by producing flowers that are enclosed within the sheaths of the leaf bases, and by producing fruit that floats by air-pocketed “bladders.” In the intertidal region, mostly submerged areas host a wide array of algae, whereas only a few species of algae inhibit the coast of rocky shores where only the highest waves reach. Few algae and plants can thrive on sandier coasts of the intertidal zone with the constant movement of waves, mud and sand.

Unicellular algae have adapted for flotation, needing to be exposed enough to the surface of the ocean to obtain enough light for photosynthesis. This type of algae has also adapted to evade predators, as its large, irregular shaped cells are too big for tiny herbivores in the water to digest.

Other types of algae have adapted to living in the sun-exposed photic zone by developing different types of pigments to soak up the sun’s rays. Green algae absorbs mainly red and orange light through its chlorophyll. Red algae has pigments that take in blue and violet light. Another adaptation of algae is its larger blade surface area that increases light absorption.

Competition for survival in the photic zone is fierce due to the large variety of algal species. As an example, a certain brown algae called the Feather Boa has adapted a method of whipping the other algal species that inhabit the space around it!

Seaweed is a type of large, multicellular marine algae that is found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of coastal waters. They have adapted structurally and biochemically to the challenges of their habitat, which include vigorous tidal rhythms from waves and wind, and the alternation of submergence in water with exposure to sun and air due to these tidal changes.

Structural adaptations found in seaweeds are a result of their complex anatomy. Some have tissues and organs similar to those of plants. The body of seaweed, thallus, is plant-like in appearance but has no true roots, stems or leaves. Its root-like holdfast helps to sustain its position, and a stem-like stipe holds up leaf-like blades that provide a large area for photosynthesis. Polysaccharides in the cellulose cell walls pad the seaweed body against its clash with waves and prevent it from drying out in low tide. Large amounts of calcium carbonate in the cell walls of some red algae impede foraging by marine invertebrates.

This sample of plants that have adapted to the ocean demonstrates how our world is rich with living creatures that, no matter how small, have been gifted to sustain themselves wherever they may inhabit.

Resource by Will

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