The effect of pH levels on the growth rate of diatoms

The ocean's acidification levels and harmful microalgae blooms have increased over the past several decades and are attributed to climate change. Diatoms are microalgae that produce large amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere and serve as important food sources for other marine organisms. Because of our limited understanding of diatoms, we do not know for sure how climate change will impact different species of diatoms. We hypothesized diatom growth rates would be reduced as water pH level decreases. In this research experiment, we conducted two different trials comparing diatom growth rates at the ocean's current pH level (8.1) with pH levels 7.5 and 6.8, respectively. The results suggest that diatoms could continue to thrive when the ocean pH level decreases slightly to pH 7.5. However, this study also suggests there is a limitation of diatom adaptability if the ocean pH level decreases further to pH 6.8.