International audienceCurrent research investigating the importance of diversity for biofuel lipid production remains limited. In contrast, the relationship between diversity and productivity within terrestrial and algal primary producers has been well documented in ecology. Hence, we set out to investigate, experimentally, whether diversity may also affect lipid production in micro-algae. We investigated the growth and lipid production of micro-algae using species from all major algal groups. Algae were grown in a large number of treatments differing in their diversity level. Additionally, we compared the growth and lipid production of laboratory communities to natural lake and pond phytoplankton communities of different diversity. Our results show that lipid production increased with increasing diversity in both natural and laboratory micro-algal communities. The underlying reason for the observed 'diversity-productivity' relationship seems to be resource use complementarity. We observed higher lipid production of highly diverse algal communities under the same growth and resource supply conditions compared to monocultures. Hence, the incorporation of the ecological advantages of diversity-related resource-use dynamics into algal biomass production may provide a powerful and cost effective way to improve biofuel production

Currently, very few studies address the relationship between diversity and biomass/lipid production in primary producer communities for biofuel production. Basic studies on the growth of microalgal communities, however, provide evidence of a positive relationship between diversity and biomass production. Recent studies have also shown that positive diversity-productivity relationships are related to an increase in the efficiency of light use by diverse microalgal communities. Here, we hypothesize that there is a relationship between diversity, light use, and microalgal lipid production in phytoplankton communities. Microalgae from all major freshwater algal groups were cultivated in treatments that differed in species richness and functional group richness. Polycultures with high functional group richness showed more efficient light use and higher algal lipid content with increasing species richness. There was a clear correlation between light use and lipid production in functionally diverse communities. Hence, a powerful and cost-effective way to improve biofuel production might be accomplished by incorporating diversity related, resource-use-dynamics into algal biomass production.