Epilithic diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) from running waters in NW Iberian Peninsula (Galicia, Spain)

  1. Manel Leira
  2. María del Carmen López-Rodríguez
  3. Rafael Carballeira
Journal:
Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid

ISSN: 0211-1322

Year of publication: 2017

Volume: 74

Issue: 2

Type: Article

DOI: 10.3989/AJBM.2421 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

A catalog of Bacillariophyceae for the rivers of NW of Spain is made for the first time. It includes a re-examination of the taxa reported in previous publications, taxa cited during the last years of the rivers of the Galicia-Costa Hydrographic Demarcation, and a revision of the taxonomy, in line with the systematic and nomenclature changes, which have occurred mainly in recent years. The epilethic diatoms of the river basins of Galicia-Costa were sampled during the years 2005, 2006, and 2007, in May-June and September. The study was carried out in 41 localities distributed along 31 rivers, samples were taken in upstream and downstream sections. Diatom communities were compared in all upstream sections of these rivers draining from siliceous substrates. We identified 141 taxa of diatoms from the coast of Galicia. In this paper we present 15 new citations for Galicia, two for Spain and three for the Iberian Peninsula, in addition to a new species recently described. The dominant taxa are: Achnanthidium minutissimum, Achnanthes subhudsonis, Karayevia oblongella, Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta, Gomphonema rhombicum, and Navicula minima. Achnanthes subhudsonis was the most abundant species during the spring and summer months. The remaining species showed no relevant changes regardless of the time of year. The results indicate that the river diatoms of Galicia are an important component of the diversity of the ecosystem.

Funding information

The financial support for this work has been provided by Augas de Galicia (Xunta de Galicia) through a contract with the University of Santiago de Compostela for the assessment of the stream water quality in rivers of Galicia-Costa using diatom metrics (2005(씀2007). We are indebted to Juan Manuel Antelo Cortizas (Department of Química-Física) and Teresa García Bernadal (researcher of Santiago de Compostela University) for their assistance during fieldwork and insightful comments on stream chemistry and ecology. Special thanks are to Maria Penalta for the photomicrographs in this study. We also thank the reviewers for their very helpful and constructive comments. Finally, we also would like to acknowledge Dr. Alejandro Quintanar for the corrections and improvements made to the original manuscript.

Funders