What are the Importance of protists to research scientists
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Protists are a strange and diverse group of organisms. They are so strange that scientists have a tough time defining and classifying them. They are not animals, plants, fungi, or bacteria. As a result, taxonomists, scientists that name, describe, and classify organisms, created a special classification to group these misfits: Kingdom Protista. The protists include organisms that are plant-like (such as algae), organisms that are animal-like (such as amoebas), and organisms that are fungus-like (such as slime molds). It turns out that protists from each of these groups are important to life on Earth.
Plant-Like Protists
If you've ever swam in a lake or the ocean, you probably swam with plant-like protists. Most plant-like protists are algae. Algae include multicellular algae, such as kelp, as well as microscopic algae, such as green algae, golden algae, and diatoms. Since nearly all protists are aquatic, and about three-fourths of the earth is covered in water, they occur just about everywhere!
This is important because these microscopic, plant-like organisms are major oxygen producers. Since there are so many of them, they produce around 30% to 50% of all the oxygen on Earth. The next time you take a breath, think of protists.
Plant-Like Protists
If you've ever swam in a lake or the ocean, you probably swam with plant-like protists. Most plant-like protists are algae. Algae include multicellular algae, such as kelp, as well as microscopic algae, such as green algae, golden algae, and diatoms. Since nearly all protists are aquatic, and about three-fourths of the earth is covered in water, they occur just about everywhere!
This is important because these microscopic, plant-like organisms are major oxygen producers. Since there are so many of them, they produce around 30% to 50% of all the oxygen on Earth. The next time you take a breath, think of protists.
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