Valves are dorsiventral. The dorsal margin is strongly convex and the ventral margin is nearly flat to weakly concave, resulting in the valve being triangular in shape. The valve tapers from the center to rounded, undifferentiated ends. The raphe canal lies close to the dorsal margin and is straight, rather than arched. Costae are 3-4 in 10 μm, with 3-6 striae between costae.
This taxon is more common in calcium-rich, nitrogen-poor habitats and possesses endosymbiotic nitrogen-fixing cyanobactetria.
Lowe, R. (2011). Epithemia reichelti. In Diatoms of North America. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://diatoms.org/species/epithemia_reicheltii
The 15 response plots show an environmental variable (x axis) against the relative abundance (y axis) of Epithemia reichelti 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.