Biodiversity and disease risk in an algal biofuel system: An experimental test in outdoor ponds using a before-after-control-impact (BACI) design
For outdoor cultivation of algal feedstocks to become a commercially viable and sustainable option for biofuel production, algal cultivation must maintain high yields and temporal stability in environmentally variable outdoor ponds. One of the main challenges is mitigating disease outbreaks that leads to culture crashes. Drawing on predictions from the ‘dilution effect’ hypothesis, in which increased biodiversity is thought to reduce disease risk in a community, a teste of whether algal polycultures would reduce disease risk and improve feedstock production efficiencies compared to monocultures was performed. While the positive benefits of biodiversity on disease risk have been demonstrated in various systems, to the best of our knowledge this is the first test in an algal biofuel system. Here, the results a before-after-control-impact (BACI) experimental design to compare mean monoculture (control) and polyculture (impact) yield, stability, and productivity before and after fungal infection when grown in 400-L outdoor raceway ponds are presented. It has been found that polycultures did not experience a reduction in disease risk compared to monocultures or differ in production efficiencies throughout the course of the 43-day experiment. These results show that polyculture feedstocks can maintain similar levels of productivity, stability, and disease resistance to that of a monoculture. Determining whether these results are generalizable or represent one case study requires additional outdoor experiments using a larger variety of host and pathogen species.
- Research Organization:
- Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0008482; EE0008906
- OSTI ID:
- 2325442
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 2467406
OSTI ID: 2000478
OSTI ID: 1904783
- Journal Information:
- PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 17; ISSN 1932-6203
- Publisher:
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English