What Are the Adaptations of Algae?

by Timothy Burns / in Home

Aquatic algae is one of the simplest plant organisms on our planet. If life evolved from bacteria to plants,
from sea creatures to land creatures, algae is likely one of the primal stepping stones in the evolutionary
process. Aquatic algae demonstrates properties which are found in animal life and plant life, including
the ability to adapt to its surroundings.

Interaction with Competition

Like chameleon lizards that change colour to blend in with their surroundings, individual algae strains
have demonstrated the ability to uniquely adapt to individual environments in order to blend in with, or
overcome the challenges of, their environment. In a coral reef setting, algae becomes highly
regenerative.

Reproductive Adaptation

Asexual reproduction enables a plant or animal species to reproduce on its own and survive in a highly
competitive surroundings. Sexual reproduction requires a male and a female of the species to provide
the necessary elements of a complete regeneration phase. For example, mammals require a female egg
to be fertilised by a male sperm to create a new life. Aquatic algae has adapted the ability to reproduce
asexually and sexually. Asexual reproduction is accomplished through fragmentation. The plant drops
spores which can plant themselves and grow. Sexual reproduction occurs when gametes from two
species meet to form a spore called a syngamy, which then produces and releases algae seeds, mature
cells that can plant themselves, grow or reproduce.

Asexual reproduction enables a plant or animal species to reproduce on its own and survive in a highly
competitive surroundings.

Environmental Adaptation

Aquatic algae demonstrates photosensitive and cosmetic adaptation throughout the ocean. If algae
originated from a single strain, environmental evolutions have forced the adaptation into red, brown,
yellow and green colour algae which each blend in with their environmental surroundings. This
adaptation helps algae avoid being completely consumed by the local fish species.

Internal Chemical Adaptation

In a research experiment conducted in the San Francisco Bay area, multiple samples of several algae
species were taken from polluted and non-polluted waters. Tests demonstrated that the algae residing
in polluted waters had internally adapted, and produced chemical variances as part of the adaptation
process. These plants physically and chemically changed their composition in order to adapt to the
pollutants in the water.

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Fun Facts About Seedless Vascular Plants

by Jacob Stutsman / in Hobbies

Vascular plants contain vascular tissue that transports water, minerals and energy throughout the plant.
An imperfect analogy can be drawn to the circulatory system in animals. Most vascular plants use seeds
or flowers to reproduce, but seedless vascular plants are an interesting relic from a time when plants did
not have seeds, and many species still exist today.

Evolution

Vascular plants evolved in the Silurian and Devonian periods approximately 400 million years ago. Seeds
were a later evolutionary adaptation because vascular plants are the only plants that have them.
Seedless vascular plants actually resemble non-vascular plants in that they use spores to reproduce, so it
is likely that seedless vascular plants are a relic of that period between the transition of non-vascular to
vascular.

Ancient Plants

The Psilophyta is an ancient group of seedless vascular plants that, unlike modern permutations, had
almost no roots or leaves (leaves later evolved from webbing between branches). During this time,
plants evolved their modern life cycle in which they alternate between gametophyte and sporophyte
stages. These stages are a constant cycle that produce sex cells to fertilise new plants. The Psilophyta
classification has changed over the years, and some plants have been split off into other groups.
The Psilophyta is an ancient group of seedless vascular plants that, unlike modern permutations, had
almost no roots or leaves (leaves later evolved from webbing between branches).

During this time, plants evolved their modern life cycle in which they alternate between gametophyte
and sporophyte stages.

Quillworts and Mosses

Lycophyta is a division of plants that has evolved from ancient plants. There are 1,200 species that
include quillworts, club mosses and fir mosses (many kinds of mosses, however, are not vascular).
Lycophyta species have rhizomes, or a lower horizontal stem which sends out adventitious roots and a
microphyll stem, or a stem with a single unbranched midrib. Spores in the Lycophyta may either be
spread out over the plant or clustered in a cone-like strobilus.

Lycophyta is a division of plants that has evolved from ancient plants.

Lycophyta species have rhizomes, or a lower horizontal stem which sends out adventitious roots and a
microphyll stem, or a stem with a single unbranched midrib.

Ferns

Pteridophyta is another division of plants that includes more than 12,000 species of ferns and horsetails.
Unlike Lycophytes, these plants have true leaves. They are very similar in structure to other vascular
plants, but they have a special gametophyte structure called a prothallus, which is anchored to the soil
by a root-like (but not true roots) rhizoid.

Fossil Fuels

Before seeded plants became prevalent, seedless vascular plants such as Rhyniophyta and
Trimerophytophyta once covered the Earth. During the Carboniferous period approximately 350 million
to 300 million years ago, these tree-sized plants were so ubiquitous that their remains accumulated
faster than they decomposed and produced modern-day fossil fuels.