Short Communication Coupling algal biomass production and anaerobic digestion: Production assessment of some native temperate and tropical microalgae Eric Fouilland a,b,* , Christophe Vasseur a,b , Christophe Leboulanger a,b , Emilie Le Floc'h a,b,c , Claire Carr  e a , Bruno Marty d , Jean-Philippe Steyer e , Bruno Sialve e a Ecologie des Syst emes Marins c^ otiers UMR 5119 ECOSYM (Universit e Montpellier 2, CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, Universit e Montpellier 1), Universit e Montpellier 2, Place E. Bataillon, CC093, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France b Ecologie des Syst emes Marins c^ otiers UMR 5119 ECOSYM (Universit e Montpellier 2, CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, Universit e Montpellier 1), Station M editerran eenne de l'Environnement Littoral, 2 Rue des Chantiers, 34200 S ete, France c Centre d' ecologie marine exp erimentale MEDIMEER (Mediterranean Center for Marine Ecosystem Experimental Research) UMS 3301 (Universit e Montpellier 2, CNRS), Station M editerran eenne de l'Environnement Littoral, 2 Rue des Chantiers, 34200 S ete, France d Naskeo Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France e INRA, UR050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France article info Article history: Received 10 January 2014 Received in revised form 19 June 2014 Accepted 22 August 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Microalgae Digestates Wastewaters Extreme natural environments Chlorophyta Cyanobacteria abstract Coupling algal biomass production and anaerobic digestion is one of the most promising bioprocesses for economically viable algal production. This study assesses the production rates of some native microalgae growing in media supplemented with algal digestate, urban wastewater or digested sludge. Native microalgal populations isolated from temperate freshwaters (Scenedesmus spp.) and marine ecosystems (Nannochloris spp.) had the highest potential production rates (about 100 mg DW L 1 d 1 ) with algal digestate at about 20% loading ratio. However, no growth was measured for Nannochloris spp., when the ammonium concentration exceeded 100 mg L 1 although Scenedesmus spp. appeared to be tolerant to higher NH 4 þ concentrations. Very low production rates, or no growth, were measured when microalgae isolated from high salinity waters (Dunaliella salina, Lyngbya aestuarii) were used, suggesting that populations well adapted to extreme environmental conditions are not suitable candidates for growing on wastewater or anaerobic digestate. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Ecologie des Syst emes Marins c^ otiers UMR 5119 ECOSYM (Universit e Montpellier 2, CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, Universit e Montpellier 1), Station M editerran eenne de l'Environnement Littoral, 2 Rue des Chantiers, 34200 S ete, France. E-mail address: eric.fouilland@univ-montp2.fr (E. Fouilland). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biombioe biomass and bioenergy xxx (2014) 1 e6 Please cite this article in press as: Fouilland E, et al., Coupling algal biomass production and anaerobic digestion: Production assessment of some native temperate and tropical microalgae, Biomass and Bioenergy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.biombioe.2014.08.027 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.08.027 0961-9534/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.