An exploration of the relationships between microalgae biomass growth and related environmental variables

• The niche of freshwater algae explained “self-designed” bio-functions of ecosystem.
• We demonstrated the potential of algae growth on natural water medium.
• This study applied the natural medium to mimic eco-function in the lab.
• The present study demonstrated the complexity of natural ecosystem.

Algal community plays critical roles as the primary producer and as a major biotic component in the nutrient/energy cycle in aquatic ecosystems. The potential of fresh water algal biomass to mitigate global problems of food and energy and its significance as a carbon sink have been recognized. In this study, with a view to decreasing the cost of producing algal biomass for various purposes, the natural medium of unsupplemented freshwater was applied to mimic the real world to produce algal biomass. The relevant physicochemical variables in the improvised algal growth environment were analyzed and monitored, to investigate the algal growth mechanism. The simple regression analysis showed the applicability of the unsupplemented natural medium with sufficient natural nutrition for algal biomass production. The multiple linear analyses explained the complexity of the mimicked freshwater mixed–algal community in the laboratory. The laboratory results obtained in the present study also provide better insights that improve our understanding of the natural algal growth characteristics.