ENV330H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Diatom
Document Summary
Informed management decisions for the protection/restoration of ecosystems. Action should be triggered by evidence of adverse effects on biota. Functional: metabolic processes (respiration, production, nutrient turnover, decomposition); water/ sediment toxicity. Taxa vary in their tolerance of environmental conditions. Presence/absence and relative abundance of taxa correlates with degree of contamination. Differences between the test site communities and the reference site communities allows us to estimate the severity of the impacts at those locations it defines and quantifies ecosystem health . It explains (and allows for) variation among healthy ecosystems. The deviation of a test site from reference conditions is a measure of the effect of stressors on the ecosystem. Diatoms have high diversity & their communities are structured strongly by local environmental conditions. Presence and abundance of different diatom species can be used as a proxy for water quality. Fundamental structural attributes: identities and relative abundances (densities) of taxa.
