Taxon Contributors
Contributors produce comprehensive documentation on diatoms, leading to consistent and correct taxonomy.
Register for the North American Diatom Symposium!
The North American Diatom Symposium will be held at Iowa Lakeside Lab, October 2-6, 2024
The North American Diatom Symposium will be held at Iowa Lakeside Lab, October 2-6, 2024
The North American Diatom Symposium will be held at Iowa Lakeside Lab, October 2-6, 2024
Become a taxon contributor Learn more
Diatoms of North America is a collaborative work in progress, growing and changing as science advances.
Taxa by Morphology
New to diatoms? Jump into diatom identification using the visual key.
Editorial Review Board
Using diatoms in assessment? Specify the use of Diatoms of North America in contracts and task agreements.
What are Diatoms?
Diatoms are single-celled algae that live nearly everywhere there is water - streams, ponds, lakes, oceans, and even soils.
For practitioners
Taxon
Identification Guide
Genera
Classification information, citations, links and species listings for 198 genera completed to date.
Species
Identification guides, original descriptions, citations, autecological information and more for 1100 species and growing.
We encourage new contributors to submit taxon pages.
This project depends on many people to document the diverse diatom flora of streams, rivers, wetlands, lakes, springs, soils, estuaries and coastal zones.
Recent News & Projects
12 September 2024
North American Diatom Symposium 2024
In celebration of 61 years of the Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms course that began at Iowa Lakeside Lab by Gene Stoermer, the North American...
12 September 2024
PUBLICATION: Phytoplankton in the Tara Ocean
ABSTRACT Photosynthesis evolved in the ocean more than 2 billion years ago and is now performed by a wide range of evolutionarily distinct...
12 September 2024
PUBLICATION: The ecology of diatom reproduction
ABSTRACT During the last 170 years, data have gradually accumulated on the diatom life cycle, documenting its unique pattern, in which slow size...
Diatoms of North America has been developed in part with the generous funding and support of US EPA, USGS, the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at University of Colorado Boulder and other organizations.
