A mass mortality occurred in 1983, killing 95-99% of the Diadema antillarum Philippi in the Caribbean. This study, conducted in Lameshur Bay, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, reports the impact of the mass mortality on Diadema population density, algal biomass, and Diadema body size. Census dates were 6 months before and 6, 12, 18, 26, 30, and 42 months after the mass mortality. There was an in...

Factors determining the degree of dietary generalism versus specialism are central in ecology. Species that are generalists at the population level may in fact be composed of specialized individuals. The optimal diet theory assumes that individuals choose diets that maximize fitness, and individual specialization may occur if individuals' ability to locate, recognize, and handle different food ...

Mass culture of algae for the production of biofuels is a developing technology designed to offset the depletion of fossil fuel reserves. However, large scale culture of algae in open ponds can be challenging because of incidences of infestation with algal parasites. Without knowledge of the identity of the specific parasite and how to control these pests, algal-based biofuel production will be...

Data from a small cylindrical culture unit with variable annular culture chambers indicate that (i) the rate of oxygen evolution by an algal culture in the linear phase of growth is a logarithmic function of light intensity, and (ii) the rate of oxygen evolution per unit volume of suspension is linearly related to the reciprocal of culture thickness. These two relationships have been combined i...

Microbial manganese oxidation was demonstrated at high Mn concentrations (5 g/liter) in bacterial cultures in the presence of a microalga. The structure of the oxide produced varied depending on the bacterial strain and mode of culture. A nonaxenic, acid-tolerant microalga, a Chlamydomonas sp., was found to mediate formation of manganite (gamma-MnOOH). Bacteria isolated from associations with c...

Efficient microalgae harvesting is a great challenge hindering diverse industrial applications of microalgae. Flocculation regarded as an effective and promising technology for harvesting. In this study, sulfate (Al2(SO4)3 Fe2(SO4)3) chloride flocculants (AlCl3 FeCl3) were used to harvest Chlorella vulgaris. conditions, including flocculant dose, flocculation time, stirring speed, pH, optimized...

Abstract The bottleneck for the production of biofuels from microalgae consists on costly harvesting processes and low lipid production, immobilization technology could play a part making more feasible. aim this study was to evaluate effect alginate growth productivity Chlorella sorokiniana , so far, main focus has been its use wastewater treatment nutrient removal effluents. cultured in both f...

221 ISSN 1759-7269 10.4155/BFS.11.157 © M Hildebrand A frequently stated reason for choosing unicellular microalgae as biofuel-production organisms is that they are more efficient than vascular plants at turning light and nutrients into valuable products. The economics of algal biofuels is critically dependent on productivity, and one can apply the same criterion and ask the question: among the...

In the guppy Poecilia reticulata, males exhibit orange spots on their body and tail, and the orange spot patterns are often criteria of female mate choice. The orange spot coloration of the males is determined by the intake of algae, a natural source of carotenoids. Therefore, it is considered that males exhibiting conspicuous orange coloration possess high algal-foraging ability. In the presen...