algal bloom

Examples of algal bloom in the following topics:

• Freshwater Biomes

  • When there is a large input of nitrogen and phosphorus (from sewage and run-off from fertilized lawns and farms, for example), the growth of algae skyrockets, resulting in a large accumulation called an algal bloom.
  • These blooms can become so extensive that they reduce light penetration in water .
  • The uncontrolled growth of algae in this lake has resulted in an algal bloom.

• Chromalveolata: Stramenopiles

  • The species which fall under the classification of chromalveolates have evolved from a common ancestor that engulfed a photosynthetic red algal cell.
  • This red algal cell had previously evolved chloroplasts from an endosymbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic prokaryote.
  • During periods of nutrient availability, diatom populations bloom to numbers greater than can be consumed by aquatic organisms.
  • A variety of algal life cycles exists, but the most complex is alternation of generations in which both haploid and diploid stages involve multicellularity.

• Chromalveolata: Alveolates

  • Current evidence suggests that species classified as chromalveolates are derived from a common ancestor that engulfed a photosynthetic red algal cell, which itself had already evolved chloroplasts from an endosymbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic prokaryote.
  • For approximately 20 species of marine dinoflagellates, population explosions (called blooms) during the summer months can tint the ocean with a muddy red color.

• Protists as Primary Producers, Food Sources, and Symbionts

  • Without dinoflagellate symbionts, corals lose algal pigments in a process called coral bleaching and they eventually die.

• The Evolution of Plastids

  • The chloroplasts contained within the green algal endosymbionts are capable of photosynthesis, making chlorarachniophytes photosynthetic.
  • The green algal endosymbiont also exhibits a stunted vestigial nucleus.

• Mutualistic Relationships with Fungi and Fungivores

  • Lichens produce soredia, clusters of algal cells surrounded by mycelia.
  • This cross-section of a lichen thallus shows the (a) upper cortex of fungal hyphae, which provides protection; the (b) algal zone where photosynthesis occurs, the (c) medulla of fungal hyphae, and the (d) lower cortex, which also provides protection and may have (e) rhizines to anchor the thallus to the substrate.

• Nutrients from Other Sources

  • The algal partner (phyco- or photobiont) makes food autotrophically, some of which it shares with the fungus; the fungal partner (mycobiont) absorbs water and minerals from the environment, which are made available to the green alga.

• Nonrandom Mating and Environmental Variance

  • Alternatively, flowering plants tend to bloom at different times depending on where they are along the slope of a mountain, known as an altitudinal cline.

• Pollination by Insects

  • A corn earworm (a moth) sips nectar from a night-blooming Gaura plant.

• Genetic Control of Flowers

  • A flower (also referred to as a bloom or blossom) is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants .