Valves are broadly lanceolate with acutely rounded, very weakly protracted apices. The axial area is lanceolate and about one-third the valve width. The central area is absent or weakly expanded on the dorsal side. The raphe is lateral, becoming filiform at the proximal ends. Proximal raphe ends are weakly expanded and tipped towards the dorsal side. Distal raphe ends are reverse-lateral and bent towards the ventral side. Striae are radiate and become parallel then convergent at the apices. Areolae in the striae are very fine and cannot be resolved in LM.
Kurtkrammeria stodderi was described (as Cymbella stodderi) from fossil material collected at Bemis Lake in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In the western United States it has been collected from a fen near Missoula, Montana, from a stream in northern California, and from a pond in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington (photo below). Water quality data are not available for these sites. Cleve (1881) also reports this taxon from Sphagnum in Brazil.
Bahls, L. (2014). Kurtkrammeria stodderi. In Diatoms of North America. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://diatoms.org/species/encyonopsis_stodderi
The 15 response plots show an environmental variable (x axis) against the relative abundance (y axis) of Kurtkrammeria stodderi from all the stream reaches where it was present. Note that the relative abundance scale is the same on each plot. Explanation of each environmental variable and units are as follows:
ELEVATION = stream reach elevation (meters)
STRAHLER = distribution plot of the Strahler Stream Order
SLOPE = stream reach gradient (degrees)
W1_HALL = an index that is a measure of streamside (riparian) human activity that ranges from 0 - 10, with a value of 0 indicating of minimal disturbance to a value of 10 indicating severe disturbance.
PHSTVL = pH measured in a sealed syringe sample (pH units)
log_COND = log concentration of specific conductivity (µS/cm)
log_PTL = log concentration of total phosphorus (µg/L)
log_NO3 = log concentration of nitrate (µeq/L)
log_DOC = log concentration of dissolved organic carbon (mg/L)
log_SIO2 = log concentration of silicon (mg/L)
log_NA = log concentration of sodium (µeq/L)
log_HCO3 = log concentration of the bicarbonate ion (µeq/L)
EMBED = percent of the stream substrate that is embedded by sand and fine sediment
log_TURBIDITY = log of turbidity, a measure of cloudiness of water, in nephelometric turbidity units (NTU).
DISTOT = an index of total human disturbance in the watershed that ranges from 1 - 100, with a value of 0 indicating of minimal disturbance to a value of 100 indicating severe disturbance.