Dataset on the specific growth rate of seaweed growing in experimental and aquaculture conditions at various biomass densities, irradiation and nutrient concentrations

We searched the published literature for data on the density-dependence of seaweed growth under different nutrient levels. The search was based on the Web of Science®, accessed in May 2019, using a combination of keywords including "seaweed & remediation", "seaweed & bioremediation", "seaweed & nitrogen removal" and "seaweed & phosphorous removal". These searches yielded a total of 164 papers reporting growth rates and biomass density for seaweed. We retrieved the growth rates, biomass density, concentration of the dominant forms of inorganic nutrients - ammonia, nitrate and phosphate - and incident irradiance, and recorded the taxa (chlorophyta, phaeophyta or rhodophyta). This generated a raw dataset containing a total of 1729 experimental assessments. For all the assessments, we further converted all growth rates to units of % day-1 and biomass density (i.e. the seaweed biomass per unit habitat volume) to g FW L-1.