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ABSTRACT
Acidification in water bodies is the increase in acidity of water bodies due to a decrease in pH level. Algae are photosynthetic micro-organisms with simple reproductive structures. The purpose of this project work was to assess the effect of acidification on some marine and freshwater algae. Four test algae were used. Oscillatoria bornetiia and Chlorella vulgaris isolated from freshwater and Chaetoceros gracilis and Diploneis littoralis isolated from marine environment. The research was carried out at the Limnology Laboratory in the Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Benin, Nigeria.
The test algae were cultured for 14 days at different levels of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and control pH. Results showed that algal growth at lower pH levels of 1, 2, and 3 were severely inhibited and recorded minimal yield while growth at higher pH levels of 4, 5, and 6 were less inhibited. Algal growth was substantial with a higher biomass yield obtained at pH 6 in both freshwater and marine algae. This calls for continuous scientific research into the field of Algology to explore new and reliable methods by which acidification can be controlled to improve algae life in water bodies.
