Most often seaweed inhabit a coastal zone, being fixed on rocks, in water, pebble or freely floating in the thickness of water. They, as well as land plants, receive nutrients, carrying out photosynthesis which requires sufficient lighting. However some representatives of family of an alga can be met also at a depth.
Instruction
1. The lack of sunlight interferes with development by seaweed of sea depths. Through thickness water only a little bit of beams of a sun arrives therefore such conditions categorically do not suit the majority of plants. Green seaweed prefer a coastal zone and most of them for life 20-40 meters do not fall more deeply.
2. Seaweed of green color use a red part of a range for photosynthesis. It is the most difficult to red color to fall by a seabed, he is late water layers, and only blue and green beams get more deeply. Therefore to the most deep-water seaweed – red, it was necessary to change the structure of the chlorolayers several. Unlike green plants – owners of a chlorophyll of an and b, in chlorolayers of red seaweed the chlorophyll of an and d prevail. At cages of red seaweed there are also additional dyes – the carotinoids, fikoetrina and fikotsiana helping to use as much as possible the sunlight arriving to plants. Also carotinoids give to red seaweed their characteristic coloring.
3. Not all red seaweed prefer to lodge at a depth. Many types live in coastal waters, without falling more than by one-two meters. However some versions are capable to continue activity at a depth over 260 meters. The seaweed living in so extreme conditions can reach the huge sizes (to fifty meters).
4. Red seaweed have huge value for the person. They are used in food for production of soups, salads, seasonings and even candies. Also the derivative of red seaweed – agar-agar is widely used in the industry. Recently scientists pay bigger attention to these plants, hoping that the sulfated carbohydrates which are contained in them will help with fight against AIDS.