Diatoms and the Environment

(Project Update: Diatoms & Desmids of the U.S.A.)

Diatoms are well established indicators of water purity and are particularly sensitive to the pH of the water in which they are found. It is said that the pH of a body of water can be inferred by identifying the diatoms which permanently reside there. One of the purposes of this project is to frequently monitor the population of diatoms in bodies of water to determine which are permanent residents and which are transients, either random or on a seasonal basis. Another purpose of the project is to find a correlation between the genera of diatoms found and the pH of their aquatic environment.

Posted on April 23, 2013 02:59 PM by william_dembowski