The development of monitoring method of attached micro-algae using new artificial substrates

Abstract

Spills of M/V Hebei Spirit on7th December 2007 caused a seriously damage to the ecosystem of Korean coast. Of these, microbial communities (i.e., attached benthic micro-algae) were reported to be sensitive to the environmental change so it can be used for ecological risk assessment. Our experiment was designed to examine the ecological risk assessments for oil pollutant using benthic attached algal community on the artificial substrates of acrylic plates. Field monitoring in the culture system was conducted in Jangmok Bay. The abundances of attached micro-algae on artificial substrates gradually increased with increasing of sampling times. Among them, diatoms were the most important colonizer of coastal water, with the genera Cylindrotheca and Navicular most abundant. In particular, developed the culture system has correctly measured qualitative and quantitative abundance of attached micro-algae because same acrylic plates as artificial substrates were used. Thus, this culture system may be directly applied to the ecological risk experiments of microbial community structure from oil pollutants.