A team of evolutionary biologists and ecologists, led by a Florida State University researcher, has a new idea for how scientists should classify algae species.
A team of evolutionary biologists and ecologists, led by a Florida State University researcher, has a new idea for how scientists should classify algae species.
FSU Assistant Professor of Biological Science Sophie McCoy and her team are proposing formal definitions for algae species and subcategories for the research community to consider: They are recommending algae be classified first by DNA and then by other traits.
The work, which includes collaborations with Stacy Krueger-Hadfield, assistant professor of biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Nova Mieszkowska, a research fellow at the Marine Biological Association in the United Kingdom, was published this week in the Journal of Phycology .
“Algal species should evolve separately from other lineages, so that’s DNA-based, but we should also take into account differences in their ecology, such as what they look like or their role in the environment,” McCoy said.
Continue reading at Florida State University.
Image via Sophie McCoy.
