The Effects of Temperature and N:P Ratios on Didymo Algae Growth

Abstract

Didymosphenia geminata (didymo) is a species of algae that is native to North America, but has been producing unprecedented blooms during the last several decades. Climate change and nitrogen deposition are two hypothesized drivers of this phenomenon. The purpose of this research project is to better understand the conditions that drive didymo algae blooms in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We hypothesize that didymo blooms will be greatest at high temperatures and under high N:P ratio treatments. In order to test this hypothesis, we used an experimental stream side channel experiment along the East River at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. There were five different N:P ratio treatments (2, 8, 16, 32, 100) and three temperature treatments combined in a factorial design (5 x 3). This experimental design will help us determine the correlation between temperature and N:P ratio treatments on didymo algae blooms. There were two statistical tests that we used for our data analysis, which were an ANCOVA and ANOVA test. We compared Added N:P Ratios with Didymo Cell Density, and we correlated Temperature Treatment with its Temperature Value. Based on these statistical tests that we ran, we determined that there was no statistical significance among N:P ratio treatments. On the other hand, there was a statistical difference between temperature treatments, but the temperature values were not different.

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