Algae

Algae are a diverse group of organisms which are photosynthetic like plants and have unicellular forms, or simpler multicellular forms lacking the organs of land plants. The most complex marine forms are called seaweeds, including kelp. Algae live in water, are at the bottom of the food chain, and thus all life depends on them. Algae are usually found in all water except distilled, even in rainwater.

The scientific study of algae is called phycology. Phycologists generally specialize in one of these specialties:

• freshwater diatoms (with skeletal structures)
• freshwater soft algae (also called non-diatoms; including underwater plants)
• marine (salt-water) diatoms (with skeletal structures)
• marine (salt-water) soft algae (also called non-diatoms; including seaweeds)

Because there are thousands of species of algae in each of the above specialties, management of taxonomic lists for each specialty is a complex and critical element in each field.