Both hydrology and physicochemistry influence diatom morphometry

It has been shown that size of planktonic diatoms responds to changes in water chemistry, but little is known about the influence of different types of environmental factors upon benthic diatom size variation. Here we ask whether water chemistry or hydromorphological influences show a stronger effec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diatom research 2020-10, Vol.35 (4), p.315-326
Main Authors: Burfeid-Castellanos, Andrea M., Kloster, Michael, Cambra, Jaume, Beszteri, Bánk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Benthos
Biomonitoring
Cell size
Community composition
Cytology
diatom morphometry
diatom size
Diatoms
Environmental factors
Freshwater
Hydrology
Inland water environment
Interspecific
Marine microorganisms
Morphology
Morphometry
physicochemical characterization
Physicochemical properties
Plankton
River basins
S/V ratio
Temporal variations
volume
Water chemistry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It has been shown that size of planktonic diatoms responds to changes in water chemistry, but little is known about the influence of different types of environmental factors upon benthic diatom size variation. Here we ask whether water chemistry or hydromorphological influences show a stronger effect on benthic diatom morphometry. 10,624 diatom valves / frustules were imaged, identified and measured from 48 samples across eight sites in the Ebro river basin obtained during ten years of biomonitoring work. We analysed how differences in surface-to-volume (S/V) ratio and other morphometric characteristics were related to spatial and temporal variability in environmental parameters. Our results show that both hydrological and physicochemical variables generated significant responses in interspecific and intraspecific morphometric variation. S/V ratio and transapical width showed the strongest responses, followed by (the predominantly used) cell volume. Freshwater benthic diatom morphology seems to respond to diverse environmental factors and could provide complementary ecological information to community composition.
ISSN:0269-249X
2159-8347
DOI:10.1080/0269249X.2020.1828175