Potential for terrestrial diatom communities and diatom indices

A new and interesting development of diatom science is based on other uses of these organisms. In the article of Antonelli et al (2017). the focus lay on soil diatoms. 

The knowledge of soil diatoms comes of old. The first descriptions of such species were from Ehrenberg in his Mikrogeologie. The knowledge stems from 1847 (see Berger, 1927). 

Diatoms are usually used in the obtention of water quality values. Even though correlations between aerophytic diatoms and land uses are known, they were not followed. Thus, the present study portrays a hereto unknown aspect of bioindication.  Using aquatic indices of diatoms (IPS). Other than missing data from aerophyle species, the results appeared to adhere to predictions. 

This article reiterates the importance of diatom taxonomy. Since some species are not aquatic, they will need to be characterized before using them. It thus has to be an alternative or addition to metagenomics. Diatoms are organisms that colonize most of the surfaces. Though wet surfaces are the preferred milieu, aerophytic diatoms exist. They are useful to use in describing the surrounding land use status, as their aquatic counterparts.

All in all an interesting take and new ideas on new substrata.

Sources: Antonelli, M.; C. E. Wetzel, L. Ector, A. J. Teuling & L. Pfister. 2017. On the potential for terrestrial diatom communities and diatom indices to identify anthropic disturbance in soils. Ecological Indicators 75, pp. 73-81.

Ehrenberg, C. G. (1854). Mikrogeologie: Das Erden und Felsen schaffende Wirken des unsichtbar kleinen selbstständigen Lebens auf der Erde (Vol. 2). L. Voss.

Beger, H. (1927). Beiträge zur Ökologie und Soziologie der luftlebigen (atmophytischen) Kieselalgen. Berichte der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft.