Learn All About The Hardy Plants That Live In The Atlantic Ocean

The plants that grow in the Atlantic Ocean are either phytoplankton, algae, or seagrass.

There are around a million different kinds of plants that exist in the world of the oceans. These plants include kelp, phytoplankton, algae, and seagrass.

There are around 228,450 species, including plants and animals, which have been discovered to live underwater. As of now, around 2 million marine species including plants and animals are yet to be discovered.

The discovered species usually use sunlight and water to prepare food. Ocean plants do not require oxygen but carbon dioxide and light to survive. The plant absorbs the nutrients from the sea rather than absorbing them from the roots.

Due to the lack of sunlight, the root system is poorly developed. Near the marina trench or around 3,280 in (8,331.2 cm) below sea level, there is complete darkness. At this level, darkness prevails since sunlight cannot reach there.

Due to the lack of photosynthesis in this region, there is no growth of any kind of plant here. So, biologically and geographically there are no plants at the bottom of the ocean.

If you like reading this, you might also want to read about Pacific Ocean facts and the smallest ocean.

Marine Gardens

Marine gardens are underwater gardens filled with different kinds of aquatic plants and species. These gardens have flowers that form meadows and are mostly seen under shallow water.

The sea flowers usually originate from multiple land flowers. The flowers create meadows that provide habitat for a large number of aquatic animals.

The animals include small fish or crabs. The flowers can grow sexually by the method of pollination. For aquatic flowers, pollination happens either through water currents or by aquatic animals.

The gardens have plants like kelp, which can be at a great depth near the Mariana trench. The tropical areas of the water bodies are filled with red algae.

They are the ancient inhabitants of the world, having lived for the last 500 million years. Due to phycoerythrin, the blue light of the algae gets absorbed, and only the reddish color of the algae is visible to the naked eye.

These algae are rich in vitamins and are used as a substitution for food in some countries as well. The gardens have plants like seagrass that grow along the coastlines of the oceans.

There are different kinds of seagrass, including turtle grass, shoal grass, and manatee grass. Apart from the seagrass, the sargassum plant is seen to survive along with the gardens. They are slightly greenish in color and thrive due to the sunlight reaching out to them.

All of these plants grow on the land of the gardens and, in some cases, along the rocks. They use photosynthesis to prepare food and survive.

Seaweed

The floor of the oceans is covered with numerous kinds of seaweed. The seaweed can be spotted from the surface of the water as well.

Seaweed is a kind of weed growing under the ocean. These weeds are mostly attached to the sea, or at least near the shore of the sea. The weeds usually grow along the shore of the sea and are of multiple colors.

Seaweeds can be of red, green, and brown colors. The brown algae are the Phaeophyta, the green algae are the Chlorophyta while the red algae are the Rhodophyta. These algae are not plants but are known to have few similarities to plants.

Common Types Of Ocean Plants

The North Atlantic Ocean is less populated with aquatic plants compared to the South Atlantic Ocean. The plant life towards the south is extremely vibrant around the coral reefs. In some cases, the free-floating of various kinds of plants can also be noticed.

The plants that live in the Atlantic Ocean include algae, seagrass, seaweed, and sea oats. All of these plants can be found around the coral reef. They form a marine biome.

Plants like phytoplankton and algae have the capability to live in the oceanic zone. Phytoplankton is the most abundant plant in the ocean and can be seen in unicellular as well as colonial forms. Other species like kelp and red algae can be frequently spotted as well.

Similar to seagrass, sargassum is also a plant that is frequently spotted under the ocean. Plankton can thrive in both saltwater and freshwater.

Clearwater has comparatively fewer plankton than contaminated bodies of water. There are microscopic plants like coralline algae that are found in abundance. They usually grow along the rocks.

Water-Pollinated Plants

The plant life that emerges on the ocean floor as a part of marine life is usually termed water-pollinated plants. These plants are aquatic in their habitat.

Pollination is the process of transferring pollen grain from one plant to the other. In the case of aquatic plants, pollination takes place either by marine animals or by the flow of water.

The pollen usually floats on the surface of the water and gets transferred from one place to another. Hydrophily pollination, or pollination by water, is comparatively rare. Hydrophily generally takes place near pondweeds and waterweeds.

The different kinds of flowers that occur as a result of water pollination would be lotus, Vallisneria, and water lily. The growth of these plants is very much restricted to the upper surface of the ocean.

Sea Kelp

Sea kelp is a form of seaweed that is found on the floor of the oceans. They can also be classified as algae that can survive in shallow waters. These species are scientifically known as Laminariales which are mostly spotted in the rainforest habitat of the ocean.

Even though kelp can be mostly seen around rainforest areas, it can be found in several marine biomes as well. From a distance, they seem to be a bunch of floating plants but are actually rooted from the bottom, creating a vast area of kelp forests.

Regarding kelp, there are around 30 different kinds that have been discovered as of now by scientists. The kelp species include giant kelp, bull kelp, sugarwack, and southern kelp.

Giant kelp is not the largest kelp but is surprisingly the easiest to spot kelp. The giant kelp is scientifically known as the Macrocystis pyrifera which can alternatively be referred to as the bladder kelp.

The giant kelp is one member of the four members of the Macrocystis genus. Apart from that, the giant kelp belongs to a group of large brown algae.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for plants that live in the Atlantic Ocean, then why not take a look at why do oceanic plates go under continental plates, or Atlantic Ocean animals.