{"id":356,"date":"2018-01-18T19:01:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T19:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-nmbiology2\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=356"},"modified":"2024-04-26T18:08:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T18:08:12","slug":"primary-producers","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-nmbiology2\/chapter\/primary-producers\/","title":{"raw":"Primary Producers","rendered":"Primary Producers"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify protists that act as primary producers<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1392\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]<img class=\"wp-image-1392\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2840\/2018\/01\/18185905\/Figure_23_04_01.jpg\" alt=\"This underwater photo shows coral polyps. Polyps are cup-shaped and have tentacles extending from the edge of the cup.\" width=\"300\" height=\"239\" \/> Figure 1.\u00a0Coral polyps obtain nutrition through a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nProtists are essential sources of nutrition for many other organisms. In some cases, as in plankton, protists are consumed directly. Alternatively, photosynthetic protists serve as producers of nutrition for other organisms. For instance, photosynthetic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae use sunlight to fix inorganic carbon. In this symbiotic relationship, these protists provide nutrients for coral polyps (Figure 1) that house them, giving corals a boost of energy to secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton. In turn, the corals provide the protist with a protected environment and the compounds needed for photosynthesis. This type of symbiotic relationship is important in nutrient-poor environments. Without dinoflagellate symbionts, corals lose algal pigments in a process called coral bleaching, and they eventually die. This explains why reef-building corals do not reside in waters deeper than 20 meters: insufficient light reaches those depths for dinoflagellates to photosynthesize.\r\n\r\nThe protists themselves and their products of photosynthesis are essential\u2014directly or indirectly\u2014to the survival of organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals (Figure 2). As primary producers, protists feed a large proportion of the world\u2019s aquatic species. (On land, terrestrial plants serve as primary producers.) In fact, approximately one-quarter of the world\u2019s photosynthesis is conducted by protists, particularly dinoflagellates, diatoms, and multicellular algae.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1393\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"650\"]<img class=\"wp-image-1393\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2840\/2018\/01\/18185908\/sea-animals.jpg\" alt=\"The photo collage shows mollusks, a crab, and, a penguin.\" width=\"650\" height=\"524\" \/> Figure 2.\u00a0Virtually all aquatic organisms depend directly or indirectly on protists for food.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nProtists do not create food sources only for sea-dwelling organisms. For instance, certain anaerobic parabasalid species exist in the digestive tracts of termites and wood-eating cockroaches, where they contribute an essential step in the digestion of cellulose ingested by these insects as they bore through wood.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/816d6f8b-bf39-4cc2-85f0-7c43e5843492\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify protists that act as primary producers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1392\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1392\" class=\"wp-image-1392\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2840\/2018\/01\/18185905\/Figure_23_04_01.jpg\" alt=\"This underwater photo shows coral polyps. Polyps are cup-shaped and have tentacles extending from the edge of the cup.\" width=\"300\" height=\"239\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1.\u00a0Coral polyps obtain nutrition through a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Protists are essential sources of nutrition for many other organisms. In some cases, as in plankton, protists are consumed directly. Alternatively, photosynthetic protists serve as producers of nutrition for other organisms. For instance, photosynthetic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae use sunlight to fix inorganic carbon. In this symbiotic relationship, these protists provide nutrients for coral polyps (Figure 1) that house them, giving corals a boost of energy to secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton. In turn, the corals provide the protist with a protected environment and the compounds needed for photosynthesis. This type of symbiotic relationship is important in nutrient-poor environments. Without dinoflagellate symbionts, corals lose algal pigments in a process called coral bleaching, and they eventually die. This explains why reef-building corals do not reside in waters deeper than 20 meters: insufficient light reaches those depths for dinoflagellates to photosynthesize.<\/p>\n<p>The protists themselves and their products of photosynthesis are essential\u2014directly or indirectly\u2014to the survival of organisms ranging from bacteria to mammals (Figure 2). As primary producers, protists feed a large proportion of the world\u2019s aquatic species. (On land, terrestrial plants serve as primary producers.) In fact, approximately one-quarter of the world\u2019s photosynthesis is conducted by protists, particularly dinoflagellates, diatoms, and multicellular algae.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1393\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1393\" class=\"wp-image-1393\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2840\/2018\/01\/18185908\/sea-animals.jpg\" alt=\"The photo collage shows mollusks, a crab, and, a penguin.\" width=\"650\" height=\"524\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1393\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 2.\u00a0Virtually all aquatic organisms depend directly or indirectly on protists for food.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Protists do not create food sources only for sea-dwelling organisms. For instance, certain anaerobic parabasalid species exist in the digestive tracts of termites and wood-eating cockroaches, where they contribute an essential step in the digestion of cellulose ingested by these insects as they bore through wood.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_816d6f8b-bf39-4cc2-85f0-7c43e5843492\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/816d6f8b-bf39-4cc2-85f0-7c43e5843492?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_816d6f8b-bf39-4cc2-85f0-7c43e5843492\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-356\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Biology. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OpenStax CNX. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/185cbf87-c72e-48f5-b51e-f14f21b5eabd@10.8\">http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/185cbf87-c72e-48f5-b51e-f14f21b5eabd@10.8<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/185cbf87-c72e-48f5-b51e-f14f21b5eabd@10.8<\/li><li>Penguin. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Simon Law. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/cymVv\">https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/cymVv<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Endangered clubshell mussel (Pleurobema clava). <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: USFWS Endangered Species. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/8Lzymi\">https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/8Lzymi<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Monkey food. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Saskia Bosch van Rosenthal. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/8FcS6p\">https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/8FcS6p<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Biology\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OpenStax 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