Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) as bio-indicators

Abstract

Bio-indicators such as diatoms from algae considered to be key factors in ecological studies as an assessment of freshwater ecology. Algae are very sensitive to environmental changes and reflect the spatiotemporal changes on exists or biomass of diatoms in waters. Diatoms have been used not just for the assessment of water quality, but also can be used as an organic pollution indicator in the freshwater ecosystems, such as algal water bloom. The reason for using diatoms as bio-indicators was for several characteristics such as rapid growth, and represent high biomass in the freshwater ecosystem. Also, diatoms have high biodiversity among the other aquatic biota and energy flow and cycling. Compared with the other aquatic biota, diatoms reflect ecological disturbance due to high sensitivity to light, temperature, water flow, pH, and oxygen content. Additionally, diatoms are used as an assessment of eutrophication, organic pollution and climate change.

Journal of Water and Land Development

“…11). Bacillariophyta are potential bioindicators of water quality, in particular eutrophication and pollution of organic matter, due to fast growth, high biodiversity, and high sensitivity to physico-chemical water factors [KHUDHER, AL-JASIMEE 2019;SOEPROBOWATI et al 2020]. Bacillariophyta contribute to lake's oxygen that can chemically change the environment of surrounding waters [LETÁKOVÁ et al 2018].…”

Trace Metals and Diatom Stratigraphy along the Sill between Lakes Telaga Warna and Telaga Pengilon, Dieng, Central Java, Indonesia

“…Diatoms are microscopic organisms that are an abundant, diverse, and important component of algal assemblages which are widely distributed in water bodies and dominate many aquatic environments [17][18][19]. Diatoms have been widely used as biomonitoring due their sensitivity to respond to environmental change, and diatom assemblages are usually diverse and therefore contain considerable ecological information [20][21][22]. When diatoms die, their remains settle onto the lake bottom, where, due to their cell wall is made from silica that allows them to be preserved in sediment for long periods, they are preserved in the bottom sediments.…”