Seagrasses Covering Rocky Shoreline 2
by LaDonna McCray
Title
Seagrasses Covering Rocky Shoreline 2
Artist
LaDonna McCray
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the order Alismatales (in the class of moncotyledons). Seagrasses evolved from terrestrial plants which recolonised the ocean 70 to 100 million years ago.
The name seagrass stems from the many species with long and narrow leaves, which grow by rhizome extension and often spread across large "meadows" resembling grassland; many species superficially resemble terrestrial grasses of the family Poaceae.
Seagrasses form dense underwater seagrass meadows which are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They function as important carbon sinks and provide habitats and food for a diversity of marine life comparable to that of coral reefs.
Uploaded
January 4th, 2022
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