Protist Ecology: Producers, Decomposers, and Symbionts
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Protists function as primary producers, decomposers, and symbionts across ecosystems, with photosynthetic protists contributing a major share of the world's photosynthesis.
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Photosynthetic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae live inside coral polyps, supplying energy the coral uses to build its calcium-carbonate skeleton.
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Losing a protist symbiont can collapse its host's role, as in coral bleaching; sinking rhizarian shells also lock carbon away from the atmosphere.