Diatoms

Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) are single-celled siliceous algae, which are ecologically widespread, occurring in marine, freshwater and (semi-)terrestrial habitats worldwide. They are often an important component of the phytoplankton community inhabiting the pelagic zone of lakes and form diverse benthic communities in a range of shallow-water habitats. Due to their specific ecological preferences, high diversity and the long-term preservation of their silica valves in (lake) sediments, diatoms are highly useful palaeoenvironmental indicators. Our working group use diatoms as palaeoecological indicators in lake sediments. They can be used to show changes in past water salinity, the pH content of the lake system, changes in the nutrient content or as indicator for lake-level variability over time.

Fig. 1a) Schematic figure of a typical centric diatom frustule b) Cyclotella paleo-ocellata under a light microscope c) SEM-image of Cyclotella paleo-ocellata (Vossel et al., 2015). © AG Litt

Literature:

Battarbee, R.W.. 1986. „Diatom analysis“ IN E BB (eds.) Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydology. New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 527-670

Mann, D.G.. 1999. „The species concept in diatoms“. Phycologia . 38: 437-495.

Smol, J.P., Stoermer, E.F. 2010. „The Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth Sciences“. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vossel, H., Reed, J., Houk, V., Cvetkoska, A., Van de Vijver, B. 2015. „Cyclotella paleo-ocellata, a new centric diatom (Bacillariophyta) from Lake Kinneret (Israel)“. Fottea. 15: 63-75.
https://doi.org/10.5507/fot.2015.006

Vossel, H., Roeser, P., Litt, T. and Reed, J.M. 2018. „Lake Kinneret (Israel): New insights into Holocene regional palaeoclimate variability based on high-resolution multi-proxy analysis“. The Holocene. 28(9): 1395-1410.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618777071