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Phycology (from Ancient Greek φῦκος (phûkos) 'seaweed' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science.
Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a wet environment. They are distinguished from the higher plants by a lack of true roots, stems or leaves. They do not produce flowers. Many species are single-celled and microscopic (including phytoplankton and other microalgae); many others are multicellular to one degree or another, some of these growing to large size (for example, seaweeds such as kelp and Sargassum).
A number of microscopic algae also occur as symbionts in lichens.
Phycologists typically focus on either freshwater or ocean algae, and further within those areas, either diatoms or soft algae.
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