Seaweed

Seaweed is a collective term for various species of macroscopic, multicellular marine algae. It refers to different groups of saltwater-dwelling plants and protists that are often large enough to be visible with the naked eye. Seaweeds can range in size from microscopic single cells to giant kelps over 60 meters long.

The seaweed group contains some 10,000 distinct species distributed across many genera within six divisions: red algae (Rhodophyta), brown algae (Phaeophyceae), green algae (Chlorophyta), glaucocystophorales, diatoms (Bacillariophyta) and euglenoids (Euglenozoa). Commonly found in intertidal areas throughout the world’s oceans and seas, they provide habitats for numerous organisms including fish and seabirds such as puffins who rely on them for shelter or food. They also play an important role in coastal ecosystems by providing habitat diversity which increases biodiversity levels; this helps support essential ecological functions like nutrient cycling.

Seaweeds have been used extensively by humans since ancient times – both as a source of nutrition and medicine but also as fertilizer due their high contents of nitrogenous compounds like alginates and phycocolloids which help retain moisture in soil while simultaneously aerating it making it easier for other plants to grow better. In recent years researchers have begun looking at ways seaweeds could be utilized even more effectively – such as through biofuel production or textile manufacturing – though further research needs done before these potential applications become widespread commercially viable alternatives.

Despite being integral components of global oceanic systems, human activities threaten most forms of wild seaweed populations around the world due primarily pollution caused by runoff from industrial farming practices or oil spills leading conservation efforts aimed at protecting threatened varieties especially those endemic only certain regions intensifying worldwide .