Book contents
- Evolutionary Physiology of Algae and Aquatic Plants
- Evolutionary Physiology of Algae and Aquatic Plants
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Environmental Changes Impacting on, and Caused by, the Evolution of Photosynthetic Organisms
- Part I Origins and Consequences of Early Photosynthetic Organisms
- 2 Early Photosynthetic Organisms
- 3 …And Nothing Was the Same Anymore: The Rise in O2 and Consequences for Photoautotrophs
- 4 The Appearance of Eukaryotic Microalgae
- 5 The Appearance of Macroalgae: Evolution and Ecological Consequences of Multicellularity
- 6 The Evolution of Aquatic Embryophytes: Secondary Colonisers of Aquatic Environments
- Part II Physiology of Photosynthetic Autotrophs in Present-Day Environments
- Part III The Future
- Index
- References
6 - The Evolution of Aquatic Embryophytes: Secondary Colonisers of Aquatic Environments
from Part I - Origins and Consequences of Early Photosynthetic Organisms
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2024
- Evolutionary Physiology of Algae and Aquatic Plants
- Evolutionary Physiology of Algae and Aquatic Plants
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Environmental Changes Impacting on, and Caused by, the Evolution of Photosynthetic Organisms
- Part I Origins and Consequences of Early Photosynthetic Organisms
- 2 Early Photosynthetic Organisms
- 3 …And Nothing Was the Same Anymore: The Rise in O2 and Consequences for Photoautotrophs
- 4 The Appearance of Eukaryotic Microalgae
- 5 The Appearance of Macroalgae: Evolution and Ecological Consequences of Multicellularity
- 6 The Evolution of Aquatic Embryophytes: Secondary Colonisers of Aquatic Environments
- Part II Physiology of Photosynthetic Autotrophs in Present-Day Environments
- Part III The Future
- Index
- References
Summary
Seagrasses in marine systems and freshwater plants (macrophytes) in inland waters are important primary producers that structure their local ecosystems. They comprise the embryophytes: bryophytes, pteridophytes and angiosperms. They have adapted the genetic heritage of their land plant ancestors in response to the opportunities and challenges of life underwater. This has involved a reduction in the structures and processes required to manage: water content, the low physical support in air and the high levels of UV radiation. In contrast, inorganic carbon can restrict photosynthesis underwater but can be minimised by growing in sites with high CO2 concentrations, exploiting CO2 in the air or sediment and by CO2 concentrating mechanisms that rely on bicarbonate uptake, C4 photosynthesis or Crassulacean acid metabolism. Most aquatic embryophytes are, like their terrestrial ancestors, rhizophytic, allowing nutrients to be taken up from both the sediment and water. Some, especially the bryophytes, are haptophytic and only obtain nutrients from the water column.
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- Evolutionary Physiology of Algae and Aquatic Plants , pp. 96 - 112Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024