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Species
Phaeophyceae
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Brown seaweeds are generally large sturdy plants and don't grow in warmer waters. They are tough and easily withstand lots of wave motion. Some species have bladders filled with air, helping them to float or stand up straight. They often wash ashore in large bunches. All kinds of smaller seaweed species and marine animals live among these bunches. There are around eigthy species of brown seaweed found in the Netherlands.
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Bruinwieren zijn vaak stevige wieren. Ze groeien op een stevige ondergrond, meestal in de getijdenzone, en ze kunnen de golven goed verdragen. Verschillende soorten hebben met lucht gevulde blaasjes, waardoor ze beter drijven. Vaak spoelen er grote bossen bruinwieren aan op het strand. Tussen de wierbossen zijn vaak allerlei kleinere wiersoorten en zeedieren te vinden. Bruinwieren hebben naast het bladgroen een bruine kleurstof. In Nederland komen zo'n 80 soorten voor.
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Phaeophyceae can dominate the rocky subtidal and intertidal of temperate regions, where, though the species diversity is lower than that of the red algae, their numbers are much higher. The “Sargasso Sea” is the only area in warm waters where Phaeophyceae is abundant – as large “rafts” of floating Sargassum. (Lee, 1999).
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Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
“There are no unicellular or colonial organisms in the order, and the algae are basically filamentous, pseudoparenchymatous, or parenchymatous.” (Lee, 1999)
See also: algaebase.org Phaeophyceae
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
Visible thalli range from a few centimeters to over 45 m (150 ft), depending on species and environmental conditions. The gametophytes of species with heteromorphic alternation of generations are microscopic. (Connor & Baxter, 1989).
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
Phaeophyceae are nearly all marine and most occur on rocky substrates in the upper littoral zone and the low to mid intertidal. There are only four genera with freshwater species, however, several marine taxa can also occur in the brackish water of saltmarshes. (Lee, 1999)
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
There are three general types of life history among the Phaeophyaceae: isomorphic alternation of generations, heteromorphic alternation of generations, and diplontic (see diagrams among images). (Graham & Wilcox, 2000)
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
Sexual and vegetative, with three general life history classes: isomorphic alteration of generations, heteromorphic alternation of generations, and diplontic. Populations occurring in brackish waters have almost totally lost their ability for sexual reproduction. Their primary method of propagation is vegetative.
(Lee, 1999; Graham & Wilcox, 2000).
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
This is still debated. Some classify Phaeophyceae as a phylum (aka “division”) within the kingdom Plantae, whereas others place it in the taxonomically narrower kingdom “Chromista.” Some algal biologists use the term “Phaeophycean” and place that in the higher taxon “Ochrophytes.” Others classify Phaeophyceae within the “Heterokontophyta.”
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |
Cell wall: generally contains cellulose (1-10% of thallus dry-weight), alginic acid, and sulfated polysaccharides
Plastids: varies among genera – may be from one to many per cell; typically have a girdle lamella; have a periplastidal endoplasmic reticulum, which is continuous with the nuclear envelope
Pigments: fucoxanthin, which gives the algae their characteristic greenish-brown color; chlorophyll a; chlorophylls c1 and c2; beta-carotene; and violaxanthin
Photosynthetic reserve product: laminarian
(Lee, 1999; Graham & Wilcox, 2000)
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Rights holder/Author | Soulanille, Elaine, Soulanille, Elaine, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/40235 |