Algal Diversity

Alterations in the competitive abilities of organisms can indicate pollution. Obviously, bacteria that can use a xenobiotic as a carbon or other nutrient source or that can detoxify a material have a competitive advantage, with all other factors being equal. Xenobiotics may also enhance species diversity if a particularly competitive species is more sensitive to a particular toxicant. These effects may lead to an increase in plant or algal diversity after the application of a toxicant. 

Microbial and algal diversity Cellular fatty acids rRNA sequence analysis... 

Level II and III indicators may include more comprehensive measurements such as enzyme activity, denitrification, microbial and algal diversity, microbial biomass, primary production, and acid volatile sulfide and gaseous flux measurements to name a few. 

Bhattachagee M, Siemarm E. Low algal diversity systems are a promising method for biodiesel production in wastewater fed open reactors. Algae. 2015 30 67-79. 

Algal densities and biomass reduced, diversity decreased, and species composition altered. Within 16 days after removal of atrazine stress, net productivity was indistinguishable from controls, but community structure remained altered at day 21 (Hamala and Kollig 1985)... 

Hunt, C. 2003. Metal concentrations and algal microfossil diversity in pre-industrial (pre-1880) sediment of lakes located on the Sudbury Igneous Complex in Sudbury, Ontario. Unpublished MSc. Thesis, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario. 

The second largest class of compounds reported from macroalgae is the polyketides, which comprise approximately a quarter of known algal compounds (Blunt et al. 2007). Polyketides are polymers of acetate (C2) and occasionally propionate (C3) and are very similar to fatty acids in their biosynthetic origin. Polyketides can be found in plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi. With a range of activities as broad as their structures, the polyketides are a diverse family of natural products classified based upon the polyketide synthases (PKSs) responsible for their biosynthesis, primarily type I and type II. 

Lubchenco J (1978) Plant species diversity in a marine intertidal community importance of herbivore food preference and algal competitive abilities. Am Nat 112 23-39 Lumbang WA, Paul VJ (1996) Chemical defenses of the tropical green seaweed Neomeris annulata Dickie effects of multiple compounds on feeding by herbivores. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 201 185-195... 

Sporopollenin is a complex polymer made up of a diversity of aromatic and aliphatic residues, which occurs in many algal cell walls where it non-specifically attenuates UV radiation (Xiong et al. 1997). It may therefore act as a constitutive UV sunscreen compound. 

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