Applications of ecological principles in algal biofuels production

Algal biomass has been suggested as a feedstock for liquid biofuels production, but yet algae have never before been cultivated at the scales necessary to produce billions of gallons of fuel.  This presentation highlights the necessity of considering engineered algal cultivation facilities as ecosystems, in which the principles of population and community ecology will be fully operational.  As an example, simple two-trophic-link systems are predicted to experience major predator-prey oscillations, and thus careful manipulations of food web structure will be necessary to stabilize both algal biomass and downstream algal biofuel production.