In recent years there has been a considerable increase in the amount of research devoted to diatom ecology, with a wide spectrum of approaches. This large amount of information, published in many different journals and books, makes it very difficult to keep up to date, both for the trained researcher and for students. Eduardo A. Morales (d. May 2023) had the original idea to assemble chapters on various subjects within diatom ecology. The questions he posed to potential contributors framed the current book consisting of 12 chapters. - Are diatoms suitable tools for ecological restoration? - What would be the features that make them reliable in this context? - What makes diatoms ecologically successful? - In an ecological sense, why is there such variability in diatom reproductive strategies and why are they worth considering? - What do new approaches in ecological synthesis provide to diatom ecology, biogeography and metacommunities? - Are all diatoms widely spread and each species uniquely characterized by its own, unaltered phenotype? - Can we really make any ecological consideration without knowing (with a high degree of certainty) the identity of taxa? - Are urban ecosystems important repositories of biodiversity? - What are the benefits and the progress in diatom ecology made by the diatom guild perspective? - Why, how and when are soil diatoms used in bioindication and what are the benefits of such an approach? - Are diatoms bona fide indicators of climate change? - Are diatom communities in temporary rivers important for these lotic ecosystems as they are subjected to the effects of climate change? - Do diatoms in peatlands behave differently from their terrestrial and aquatic (rivers, lakes, others) counterparts?
Audience
The book is intended primarily for professionals in the fields of diatom research, algal research (phycology), organismal, population and community ecology, limnology, microbiology, organismal biology, paleoecology and paleolimnology. The book will also serve as a reference for graduate students seeking guidance on terminology, techniques, and current methods in diatom research.
Table of Contents
Preface xxvii
1 Using Diatoms to Guide Successful Ecological Restoration 1
Evelyn E. Gaiser
1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 Components of Successful Ecosystem Restoration 3
1.3 Incorporating Diatoms in Ecological Restoration 8
1.4 Communicating Diatom-Based Indicators of Restoration Progress 24
1.5 Summary and Opportunities 27
2 Abundance-Occupancy Relationships in Freshwaters: The Case of Pond Diatoms 41
Saúl Blanco, María Borrego-Ramos and Óscar Fernández-Ramos
2.1 Introduction 42
2.2 Materials and Methods 43
2.3 Results 47
2.4 Discussion 49
3 The Ecology of Diatom Reproduction 59
David G. Mann and Mark B. Edlund
3.1 Introduction 60
3.2 Reports of Auxosporulation in Natural Populations 63
3.3 Ecological Significance of Auxosporulation 71
3.4 Future Prospects for Phenological Studies 74
4 Deterministic and Stochastic Effects on Freshwater Diatom Biodiversity and Community Composition 85
Xavier Benito, Sophia I. Passy, Annika Vilmi, Aurélien Jamoneau, Juliette Tison-Rosebery, Maria Kahlert, Chad A. Larson, Joseph L. Mruzek, Janne Soininen and Andrew Bramburger
4.1 Introduction 86
4.2 Deterministic Effects on Diatom Metacommunities 94
4.3 Stochastic Effects on Diatom Metacommunities 98
4.4 Relative Importance of Deterministic and Stochastic Effects on Diatom Metacommunities 100
4.5 Assembly Processes Over Time 102
4.6 Assembly Processes Over Space 104
4.7 Concluding Remarks and Future Directions 105
5 Recent Insights into Diatom Distributions and the Contributions of Molecular Approaches 123
Jana Kulichová and Rosa Trobajo
5.1 Introduction 124
5.2 A Metacommunity Framework 142
5.3 Metabarcoding 146
5.4 The Problem of Undersampling 149
5.5 Conclusions 150
6 Diatom Taxonomy: Disentangled from Ecology? 163
Eileen J. Cox
6.1 Introduction 164
6.2 Diatom Taxonomy 165
6.3 Diatom Ecology 174
6.4 Where Are the Challenges? 181
6.5 Integrating Information 182
6.6 Conclusions 183
7 Diatom Biodiversity in Urban Freshwater Ecosystems: Opportunities and Challenges for Conservation 203
Majoi de Novaes Nascimento and Luciane Fontana
7.1 Contextualizing Urban and Novel Ecosystems 204
7.2 Diatom Diversity in Novel Freshwater Ecosystems: Insights and Future Directions from a Systematic Literature Review 208
7.3 Mapping Gaps and Opportunities 213
7.4 Ecological Importance of Diatoms in Monitoring and Managing Urban Freshwater Ecosystems 216
7.5 Climate Change and Conservation of Diatom Biodiversity in Urban Systems 217
7.6 New Approaches and Perspectives for the Future 219
8 Guilds for Diatoms: History and Future Prospects 233
Csilla Stenger-Kovács and Viktória B-Béres
8.1 The Origin and History of the Guild Concept 234
8.2 Passy's Idea: Use of the Guild Concept in Diatom Research 236
8.3 Relationship Between Guilds and Environmental Variables 242
8.4 Effect of Global Threatening Processes on Guilds 249
8.5 Diatom Guilds in Plankton and Their Ecological Role 252
8.6 Guild Dispersal, Guild-Based Metacommunity Analysis and Β-Diversity 253
8.7 Guilds in Conservation Biology Studies 258
8.8 Guilds in the Past, Present and Future 260
8.9 Conclusion and Future Directions of the Guild Concept in Diatom Community Ecology 263
9 Soil Diatoms and Their Use in Bioindication 281
Jasper Foets and Eveline Pinseel
9.1 Introduction 282
9.2 Taxonomy 284
9.3 Ecology 291
9.4 Diatoms as Environmental Markers 297
9.5 Soil Diatoms in Forensic Sciences 301
9.6 Future Perspectives 302
10 Lacustrine Diatoms as Paleoclimate Proxies and Their Use in Climate Change Research 329
Gabriela S. Hassan
10.1 Introduction 330
10.2 Lacustrine Diatoms as Archives of Climatic Signals 332
10.3 Diatoms, Limnology and Climate 335
10.4 Conclusions 351
11 Diatoms in Temporary Rivers: Importance in a Global Climate Change Context 361
Maria Helena Novais and Manuela Morais
11.1 Introduction 361
11.2 Diatoms Adaptation Mechanisms in Temporary Rivers 366
11.3 Flow Reduction/Lentification 370
11.4 Desiccation Stress 372
11.5 Thermal Stress 374
11.6 UV Radiation Exposure 376
11.7 Community Dynamics in Temporary Rivers 380
11.8 Diatoms as Bioindicators in Temporary Rivers 382
11.9 Final Remarks 382
12 The Ecology of Diatoms in Peatlands: Communities from Tierra del Fuego Peat Bogs as a Study Case 393
Valeria Casa, María V. Quiroga, Bart Van de Vijver and Gabriela Mataloni
12.1 Introduction 394
12.2 Singularity of Peatland Diatoms 396
12.3 Diatoms in Tierra del Fuego Peat Bogs 400
12.4 Closing Remarks and Future Perspectives 409
References 410
Index 421
