The ecology of algal biodiesel production.

Sustainable energy production represents one of the most formidable problems of the 21st century, and plant-based biofuels offer significant promise. We summarize the potential advantages of using pond-grown microalgae as feedstocks relative to conventional terrestrial biofuel crop production. We show how pond-based algal biofuel production, which requires significantly less land area than agricultural crop-based biofuel systems, can offer additional ecological benefits by reducing anthropogenic pollutant releases to the environment and by requiring much lower water subsidies.

Development of predictive models for geosmin-related taste and odor in Kansas, USA, drinking water reservoirs.

The presence of taste and odor compounds can greatly reduce the quality of drinking water supplies. Because the monetary costs associated with the removal of these compounds can be high, it is impractical for most facilities to continuously treat their raw water. Instead, new tools are needed to help predict when taste and odor events may be most likely to occur.

Effects of eutrophication on vitellogenin gene expression in male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to 17alpha-ethynylestradiol in field mesocosms.

This study evaluated the effect of aquatic secondary nutrient supply levels (nitrogen and phosphorus) on the subcellular response of adult male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to a single nominal concentration of 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2), a potent synthetic estrogen, under quasi-natural field conditions. Outdoor mesocosms were maintained under low, medium, and high nutrient supply conditions as categorized by total phosphorus (TP) level (nominal 0.012, 0.

Phytoplankton species richness scales consistently from laboratory microcosms to the world's oceans.

Species-area relationships have been observed for virtually all major groups of macroorganisms that have been studied to date but have not been explored for microscopic phytoplankton algae, which are the dominant producers in many freshwater and marine ecosystems. Our analyses of data from 142 different natural ponds, lakes, and oceans and 239 experimental ecosystems reveal a strong species-area relationship with an exponent that is invariant across ecosystems that span >15 orders of magnitude in spatial extent. A striking result is that the species-area relationship derived from small-scale experimental studies correctly scales up to natural aquatic ecosystems.

Responses of molecular indicators of exposure in mesocosms: common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exposed to the herbicides alachlor and atrazine.

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were treated in aquatic mesocosms with a single pulse of the herbicides atrazine or alachlor to study the bioavailability and biological activity of these herbicides using molecular indicators: Liver vitellogenin gene expression in male fish for estrogenic activity, liver cytochrome P4501A1 gene expression, and DNA damage in blood cells using the single-cell gel electrophoresis method. Both alachlor and atrazine showed dose-related increases in DNA strand breaks at environmentally relevant concentrations (<100 ppb). Gene expression indicators showed that neither herbicide had estrogenic activity in the carp, whereas atrazine at concentrations as low as 7 ppb induced cytochrome P4501A1.