Monitoring the Growth & Productivity of Algal Production

Over the past 20 years active fluorescence has been widely adopted by the scientific community, ecosystem managers and crop growers as a rapid and non-invasive method of estimating photosynthetic performance within a wide range of organisms, including phytoplankton (microalgae and cyanobacteria), biofilms, benthic autotrophs (corals, macroalgae and sea grasses) and terrestrial plants. The main rational for applying active fluorescence is that changes in key fluorescence parameters can reveal the early onset of chronic  and acute degradation of photosynthetic performance and subsequent growth, e.g. resulting from nutrient deficiency or the presence on one or more toxicants.

Over the past 15 years we have been developing an active fluorescence technique called Fast Repetition Rate (FRR) fluorometry to monitor algae populations in the open-ocean, primarily to support climate and ocean modelling.

Latest range of compact, low cost FRR fluorometers include:

Recently, however, we have been extending the technique to other applications, including water intake protection where the technique is used to detect deliberate contamination of fresh water supplies by monitoring the 'health' of the natural algal population through the FRR response. We believe there is application for FRR in monitoring the growth and productivity of a much wider range of micro or macro, algal production. Some of the areas, where we believe the technique could be applied, include: monitoring algal growth rates, optimizing algal growth conditions, monitoring potential toxic effects of nutrients, e.g. if using waste water the optimum time for harvesting.

We would be very interested to talk further about the FRR technique and our latest range of compact, low cost, FRR fluorometers. So, if you think there is an application for this technique in your work or if you require any further information, please contact us.

FastOcean APD Profiling System: Automous profiling system comprising 2 FastOcean multi-wavelength FRR fluorometers (ambient plus dark), pumped dark chamber, programmable battery pack and a PAR sensor for in situ estimation of gross primary production. 

FastOcean FRR plus FastAct Laboratory System: This combination controlled through the FastPro8 GUI, provides an extremely flexible system for running FLCs and other laboratory-based experiments, using as little as 1 ml of sample or as a flow through system.