An experiment was designed to select economically valuable macroalga species with high nutrient uptake rates. Such species cultured on a large scale could be a potential solution to eutrophication. Three macroalgae species, Ulva pertusa (Chlorophyta), Gelidium amansii (Rhodophyta) and Sargassum enerve (Phaeophyta), were chosen for the experiment because of their economic values and availability. Control and four nitrogen concentrations were achieved by adding NH + 4 and NO - 3. The results indicate that the fresh weights of all species increase faster than that of control after 5 d culture. The fresh weight of Ulva pertusa increases fastest among the 3 species. However, different species show different responses to nitrogen source and its availability. They also show the advantage of using NH + 4 than using NO - 3. U. pertusa grows best and shows higher capability of removing nitrogen at 200 μmol L -1 , but it has lower economical value. G. amansii has higher economical value but lower capability of removing nitrogen at 200 μmol L -1 . The capability of nitrogen assimilation of S. enerve is higher than that of G. amansii at 200 μmol L -1 , but the former’s increase of fresh weight is lower than those of other two species. Then present preliminary study demonstrates that it is possible to use macroalgae as biofilters and further development of this approach could provide biologically valuable information on the source, fate, and transport of N in marine ecosystems. Caution is needed should we extrapolate these findings to natural environments.
