Diatoms as Indicators of Water Quality and Ecological Status: Sampling, Analysis and Some Ecological Remarks

The algal species that develop in an area depend on different environmental factors: salinity, temperature, pH, water velocity, shading, depth, availability of substrata to grow on, water chemistry, etc. Thus, the species that can be found in a water body will inform about some characteristics of the water. Because algae are good indicators of the features of the water, they are used to monitor water quality. Among algae, diatoms have the advantage of being easily identifiable at the species level without the need of cultures and they are very easy to collect and store due to their hard frustule. The ecological requirements of many diatom species are known and therefore many diatom-based indexes of water quality have been developed.