Is algae the next sustainable biofuel?
Biofuels made from algae are gaining attention as a domestic source of renewable fuel. However, with current technologies, scaling up production of algal biofuels to meet even 5 percent of U.S. transportation fuel needs could create unsustainable demands for energy, water, and nutrient resources, this report finds.
Why is algae considered a protist?
Plant-like protists, also called algae are a large and diverse group of simple plant-like organisms. They are considered “plant-like” because they photosynthesize, and are considered “simple” because they do not have the distinct organization of higher plants such as leaves and vascular tissue. Why are plant-like protists not considered plants?
Is algae good or bad for humans?
The algae are harmful to humans in several ways. Volvocales, Chlorococcales, Myxophyceae and several others occur in such a great abundance in water, that they colour the whole water either green or blue green and cause the death of fishes. The algae block the gills of the fishes and they respire during night and make the respiration of fishes difficult by complete depletion of oxygen.
Why is algae an autotroph?
Answer: Explanation: Because some algae are autotrophs like plants because they contain chlorophyll and protozoa are heterotrophs as are animals . Is algae a plant or animal? Algae are sometimes considered plants and sometimes considered “protists” (a grab-bag category of generally distantly related organisms that are grouped on the basis of not being animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, or archaeans).
Is a algae a herbivore carnivore or omnivore or producer?
Algae belong to the group of plant-like protists. They are autotrophs that fulfill the role of producer in ecosystems because they make their own food via photosynthesis, like plants.
Is eating algae a herbivore?
We define freshwater “herbivory” as the consumption of algae and/or phytoplankton, and an “herbivore” as an organism that mainly eats these primary producers, but may indirectly consume detritus (consumes >50% primary producers).
Is a green algae A carnivores?
Algae are often classified as plants and not animals, and sometimes they're considered protists. Green algae are neither herbivores, carnivores, nor omnivores, and fascinatingly, they make their food through photosynthesis.
What do algae eat?
Algae does not consume organic materials; instead, it feeds on the waste materials produced by decomposing materials and the waste of marine animals. The growth of algae is dependent on the process of photosynthesis where the bacteria that forms the organisms takes energy from the rays of the sun to use for growth.
Where is algae on the food chain?
baseEcologically, algae are at the base of the food chain. They are the beginning of the transfer of solar energy to biomass that transfers up trophic levels to the top predators.
Is algae a producer?
Like their aquatic and terrestrial plant relatives, algae are primary producers, known as autotrophs. Autotrophs convert water and carbon dioxide to sugar (food) in the presence of sunlight. This process, photosynthesis, generates oxygen as a by-product.
Is algae a plant?
Algae are broadly classified as micro- and macroalgae based on size. Macroalgae indicates large aquatic photosynthetic plants that can be seen without the aid of a microscope and can generally be divided into three groups: Green (Chlorophyta), Red (Rhodophyta), and Brown-Kelps (Phaeophyta—related to Chromista).
How does algae get their food?
Algae form organic food molecules from carbon dioxide and water through the process of photosynthesis, in which they capture energy from sunlight.
Is fungi a herbivore carnivore or omnivore?
A herbivore is often defined as any organism that eats only plants. By that definition, many fungi, some bacteria, many animals, about 1% of flowering plants and some protists can be considered herbivores. Many people restrict the term herbivore to animals.
Are algae plants or animals?
Some algae, such as seaweed, look like plants. However, algae are actually neither plants nor animals. Instead they belong to a group of living things called protists. There are about 27,000 different species, or types, of algae.
Do algae eat plants?
As “plants” the algae produce their own food and as “animals” they can eat other plants or even their own grazers. These organisms are called mixotrophs and their nutritional strategy is thus known as mixotrophy, in other words: “mixed nutrition”.
Are algae decomposers?
No, Algae are producers and are autotrophs. They derive energy from photosynthesis like plants. Fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms are decomposers, which decompose organic matter present in dead and decaying remains of plants and animals.