Projects

Pinnularia and other large diatoms of the Northeast

Really, really, really large diatoms

Diatoms that are relatively large are typically out numbered in aquatic assemblages. Yet, these species may be ecologically important, as well as meaningful in environmental assessment. This project is contributing to understanding the richness and diversity of large species in lakes of the Northeast U.S.

Taxa

In the process of automated whole-slide imaging, we found that large species are easily detected even using a 10x objective lens. Yet, large species are typically missed in traditional surveys for diatoms. In this study we are examining microslides from the ANSP Herbarium representing ~700 lakes in the northeastern US and Canada. The materials represent recent to Quaternary lake sediments.

Large species, such as many Pinnularia species, are poorly represented in studies. However these large specimens represent a diverse and valuable flora of minimally disturbed sites. Many of the sediments are from sections prior to human settlement, so they are the best representatives of reference, or undisturbed conditions.

We expect that these taxa are a valuable, but as yet under utilized measure of diatom biodiversity. Automated whole-slide imaging offers a means to track species loss due to human influence in these northeastern watersheds.