The Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth Sciences

✍ Scribed by E. F. Stoermer, John P. Smol

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 483
• Edition: 1st
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Diatoms are microscopic algae which are found in virtually every habitat where water is present. This volume is an up-to-date summary of the expanding field of their uses in environmental and earth sciences. Their abundance and wide distribution, and their well-preserved glass-like walls make them ideal tools for a wide range of applications as both fossils and living organisms. Examples of their wide range of applications include environmental indicators, oil exploration, and forensic examination. The major emphasis is on their use in analyzing ecological problems such as climate change, acidification, and eutrophication. The contributors to the volume are leading researchers in their fields and are brought together for the first time to give a timely synopsis of a dynamic and important area. This book should be read by environmental scientists, phycologists, limnologists, ecologists and palaeoecologists, oceanographers, archaeologists and forensic scientists.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Dedication......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Contributors......Page 9
Preface......Page 13
Part I Introduction......Page 15
1 Applications and uses of diatoms: prologue......Page 17
References......Page 22
Part II Diatoms as indicators of environmental change in flowing waters and lakes......Page 23
Rationale for using diatoms......Page 25
RESEARCH DESIGN......Page 27
SAMPLING PLANKTON AND PERIPHYTON......Page 29
Assemblage characteristics used in assessment......Page 30
BIOMASS ASSAY......Page 32
DIVERSITY......Page 33
SPECIES COMPOSITION......Page 34
AUTECOLOGICAL INDICES......Page 35
MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS......Page 38
FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS......Page 39
Assessment of biotic integrity and diagnosis of environmental stressors......Page 40
Concluding remarks......Page 44
Summary......Page 45
References......Page 46
LAKE HYDROLOGY AND HYDROCHEMISTRY......Page 55
DIATOMS AND LAKEWATER CHEMISTRY......Page 57
Tools for environmental reconstruction......Page 59
Environmental reconstructions......Page 64
AFRICAN AND ASIAN RECORDS OF QUATERNARY CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY......Page 65
NORTH AMERICAN RECORDS OF QUATERNARY CLIMATE AND HYDROLOGY......Page 70
HIGH-RESOLUTION STUDIES OF SHORT-TERM CLIMATIC VARIABILITY......Page 72
TAPHONOMY......Page 74
DISSOLUTION......Page 75
SALINITY RECONSTRUCTION......Page 77
CLIMATIC RECONSTRUCTION......Page 78
Summary......Page 80
References......Page 82
Introduction......Page 87
Mass balance considerations......Page 88
Role of nutrient enrichment......Page 90
Development and degree of silica limitation......Page 91
WATER COLUMN SILICA DEPLETION......Page 92
LAKE ERIE: A NATURAL CHEMOSTAT......Page 93
LAKE MICHIGAN – RECENT SEASONAL (EPILIMNETIC) SILICA LIMITATION......Page 94
Future Research......Page 95
Summary......Page 96
References......Page 97
Introduction......Page 99
PH RECONSTRUCTION USING THE HUSTEDT PH CLASSIFICATION......Page 100
PH RECONSTRUCTION USING NON-LINEAR MODELS AND A SPECIES-BASED APPROACH......Page 101
Diatoms, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and aluminium in acid waters......Page 111
NATURAL ACIDIFICATION PROCESSES......Page 113
HUMAN MODIFICATION OF CATCHMENT SOILS AND VEGETATION......Page 118
THE INFLUENCE OF STRONG ACIDS......Page 120
AMELIORATION STRATEGIES......Page 124
RECOVERY AND REVERSIBILITY......Page 125
Summary......Page 130
References......Page 131
Introduction......Page 142
Approaches......Page 143
EXPERIMENTS......Page 145
FIELD OBSERVATION......Page 146
Responses of periphytic diatoms to eutrophication......Page 148
Using diatoms to investigate past eutrophication......Page 149
MODERN QUANTITATIVE METHODS......Page 151
ASSESSMENT OF DIATOM-TP MODEL PERFORMANCE, ERRORS AND EVALUATION......Page 153
INDIVIDUAL LAKE STUDIES......Page 158
REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS USING DIATOMS......Page 164
EUTROPHICATION MANAGEMENT USING DIATOMS IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER APPROACHES......Page 166
USING DIATOMS TO EVALUATE EMPIRICAL EUTROPHICATION MODELS......Page 167
USING DIATOMS TO QUANTIFY FACTORS REGULATING LAKE EUTROPHICATION......Page 168
Future directions......Page 170
MULTIPLE INDICATOR STUDIES......Page 171
USING DIATOM-TP INFERENCE MODELS TO ESTIMATE PAST CHANGES IN P LOADING AND P SEDIMENTATION COEFFICIENTS......Page 172
References......Page 173
Definitions and concepts......Page 183
What sites are available for long-term studies?......Page 184
How are diatoms interpreted in long records?......Page 186
GEOLOGY AND TECTONISM......Page 188
PALEOENVIRONMENTS AND PALEOCLIMATES......Page 189
Problems with long diatom records......Page 193
References......Page 194
Introduction......Page 197
LIFE FORM......Page 200
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL ENVIRONMENT......Page 201
NUTRIENT ENVIRONMENT......Page 202
pH......Page 203
REGRESSION......Page 204
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ANALYSIS......Page 206
ISOSTATIC REBOUND......Page 207
DIATOM EVIDENCE FOR WATER LEVEL CHANGES IN GREAT LAKES WETLANDS......Page 211
Acknowledgments......Page 212
References......Page 213
Part III Diatoms as indicators in extreme environments......Page 217
Introduction......Page 219
Diatoms as paleoenvironmental indicators at treeline......Page 220
NORTH AMERICA......Page 222
SCANDINAVIA......Page 224
SIBERIA......Page 225
A STEEP ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT......Page 227
A CASE STUDY OF CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS: THE LATE-GLACIAL......Page 230
INDIRECT EFFECTS: A TEMPERATURE–PH RELATIONSHIP IN ALPINE LAKES......Page 231
Common features to arctic and alpine diatom assemblages......Page 233
Summary......Page 234
References......Page 235
Introduction......Page 241
Limnological setting......Page 242
Historical review......Page 243
ICE COVER AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES......Page 245
RIVER INFLOWS......Page 250
HIGH RESOLUTION STUDIES......Page 251
MARINE/LACUSTRINE TRANSITIONS......Page 252
Summary......Page 253
References......Page 254
Antarctic diatoms......Page 259
Diatoms as indicators of climate......Page 261
Changes in lake salinity......Page 265
Use of diatoms in determining historical lake ice cover......Page 266
Environmental change in surrounding watersheds......Page 268
Presence of marine taxa in freshwater environments......Page 270
Diatoms in ice cores......Page 271
Summary......Page 272
References......Page 273
Introduction......Page 278
Systematics......Page 279
FACTORS INFLUENCING DISTRIBUTION......Page 280
BIOGEOGRAPHY......Page 282
AERIAL DIATOMS AS INDICATORS......Page 283
Summary......Page 284
References......Page 285
Part IV Diatoms as indicators in marine and estuarine environments......Page 289
Identification and reconstruction of the paleoenvironment......Page 291
USING CONTEMPORARY ECOLOGICAL INFORMATION......Page 292
EVIDENCE FROM THE STRATIGRAPHIC RECORD: FOSSIL DIATOM BIOFACIES......Page 297
TRANSGRESSIONS, REGRESSIONS, SEA-LEVEL TENDENCIES AND SEA-LEVEL CURVES......Page 298
DIATOM CONTRIBUTIONS TO SEA-LEVEL TENDENCY ASSESSMENT......Page 299
SEA-LEVEL RECONSTRUCTION......Page 300
DIATOM STRATIGRAPHIES WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DISCORDANCIES......Page 303
Future developments......Page 304
References......Page 305
Introduction......Page 312
Diatoms as biological indicators in brackish water......Page 315
SPECIES AND POPULATIONS......Page 317
COMMUNITIES......Page 320
DIVERSITY......Page 321
PALEOECOLOGY......Page 323
Brackish water diatoms and nutrients......Page 326
Brackish water diatoms and temperature......Page 331
Brackish water diatoms and light......Page 335
Brackish water diatoms and contaminants......Page 336
References......Page 339
Introduction......Page 348
DISTRIBUTIONAL STUDIES......Page 349
STUDIES UTILIZING DIVERSITY STATISTICS......Page 351
WATER QUALITY INDICES......Page 352
FUNCTIONAL STUDIES......Page 353
STUDIES OF SEAGRASS EPIPHYTES......Page 354
Sediment stability......Page 355
Resuspension......Page 358
Summary......Page 361
References......Page 362
Introduction......Page 366
EUTROPHICATION......Page 367
Using diatoms in estuarine paleoecology studies......Page 368
SILICA CYCLING IN ESTUARIES......Page 369
VALVE PRESERVATION......Page 370
ESTUARINE SEDIMENTARY ENVIRONMENTS AND CHOOSING CORING SITES......Page 371
EXTRACTION METHODS......Page 372
SPECIES IDENTIFICATIONS AND REFERENCES......Page 374
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA......Page 375
CALIBRATION SETS......Page 376
CASE STUDIES FROM MID-ATLANTIC USA......Page 378
SEA LEVEL CHANGES/SALINITY RECONSTRUCTIONS......Page 379
Summary......Page 380
References......Page 381
Temperature......Page 388
CHAETOCEROS SPORES AND BLOOMS......Page 391
MONOSPECIFIC MATS AND STRATIFIED WATERS......Page 393
Varved Sediments and Seasonal Variability......Page 394
Lateral Transport......Page 395
Marine records before the Pleistocene......Page 396
References......Page 397
Part V Other applications......Page 401
Analysis of archeological artefacts......Page 403
Analysis of archeological sediments......Page 404
Site-based paleoenvironmental reconstructions......Page 405
Regional paleoenvironmental reconstructions......Page 407
References......Page 412
Applications......Page 416
Summary......Page 424
References......Page 425
Drowning......Page 427
SAMPLE PREPARATION......Page 429
Diatoms on wet clothing......Page 430
Safe ballasts......Page 431
References......Page 432
Harmful blooms......Page 433
Contributing factors......Page 436
Biological paradigms......Page 438
Acknowledgments......Page 439
References......Page 440
Introduction......Page 443
Long distance transport of African diatoms......Page 444
Polar transport of diatoms – Antarctic......Page 445
Other instances of long distance transport......Page 446
References......Page 447
Origin of diatomite......Page 450
History and use of diatomite......Page 452
Production of diatomite......Page 454
References......Page 455
Part VI Conclusions......Page 459
24 Epilogue: a view to the future......Page 461
References......Page 463
Glossary and acronyms......Page 465
Index......Page 480