Biodiversity Data Journal : Data Paper (Biosciences)
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Data Paper (Biosciences)
Diatom diversity, distribution and ecology in Mediterranean ecosystems of Abrau Peninsula, north-western Caucasus
expand article infoAlisa A. Neplyukhina‡, Ruslan A. Saifutdinov‡, Angelina A. Paskhina§, Daniil I. Korobushkin‡
‡ Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, Moscow, Russia
§ Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Corresponding author: Alisa A. Neplyukhina (taviliss@gmail.com)
Academic editor: Saúl Blanco
Received: 22 Jun 2022 | Accepted: 09 Aug 2022 | Published: 16 Aug 2022
© 2022 Alisa Neplyukhina, Ruslan Saifutdinov, Angelina Paskhina, Daniil Korobushkin
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Neplyukhina AA, Saifutdinov RA, Paskhina AA, Korobushkin DI (2022) Diatom diversity, distribution and ecology in Mediterranean ecosystems of Abrau Peninsula, north-western Caucasus. Biodiversity Data Journal 10: e89405. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.10.e89405
 Open Access

Abstract

Background

The North Caucasus is an extensive region with a multitude of landscapes and high biological diversity. Amongst various ecosystems, the xerophytic sub-Mediterranean forests of the Abrau Peninsula (Utrish State Nature Reserve) and its vicinity are unique but have been poorly studied. The diversity of diatoms in North Caucasian ecosystems have been studied partially and only little information is available about their presence and distribution on the Abrau Peninsula. Here, we present a comprehensive check-list of diatoms sampled during a July 2021 field campaign. Samples were collected in 67 sites, including 39 permanent streams, 21 temporal (puddles) and seven permanent waterbodies. Results of the current study contribute to improving the knowledge about diatoms in the north-western Caucasus and its sub-Mediterranean ecosystems in particular.

New information

Here, we provide a detailed dataset that contains 215 freshwater and brackish diatom occurrences collected during a field campaign in July 2021. A total of 88 diatom (Bacillariophyta) taxa which belong to 12 orders, 25 families and 39 genera were collected. The genera with the highest number of occurrences per site were Gomphonema (26), Nitzschia (22), Navicula (20), Cocconeis (14), Amphora (14), Achnanthidium (14) and Planothidium (11). The genera with the highest number of infrageneric taxa were Nitzschia (8), Navicula (7), Gomphonema (6) and Mastogloia (5). Navicula blazencicae, known as the endemic of the Lake Prespa (Levkov 2007) is found from two sites in our study. Three specimens of the genus Mastogloia could not be assigned to a known species and may represent new diatom species. Distribution and ecology data are provided for each taxa. Occurrence data are given. Statistical analysis of diatom communities showed a significant dependence on habitat type and their ecological conditions.

Keywords

Bacillariophyta, freshwater ecosystems, coastal ecosystems, new records, species check-list, Utrish State Nature Reserve

Introduction

Diatoms are a widely distributed group of algae whose representatives populate both aquatic (marine and freshwater) and terrestrial ecosystems, such as soils, mosses, wet walls and rocks (Round et al. 1990, Smol and Stoermer 2010) and play a key role in the nutrient cycle and energy flux (Benoiston et al. 2017). In seas and oceans, organic carbon produced by diatoms is consumed rapidly and serves as a base for marine food webs. In coastal waters, diatoms support most productive fisheries. In the open ocean, a relatively large proportion of diatom organic matter sinks rapidly from the surface, becoming food for deep-water organisms (Armbrust 2009). Soils and other terrestrial ecosystems have more severe effects for diatoms and differ from aquatic ecosystems in diatom species composition, although diatoms can be the dominant algal group at periods of the year with high soil moisture (Foets et al. 2020).

Diatoms are regularly used as biological indicators for the water quality environmental assessment (Patrick 1973, Reid et al. 1995, Kelly et al. 1998, Battarbee et al. 2002). The analysis of diatom communities and their biodiversity is a useful tool to secure an ecological and sustainable use of the water resources and the correct elaboration of guidelines for their preservation, in particular, in specially protected natural areas. Some recent studies have shown that natural springs in protected areas may act as biodiversity hotspots (Falasco and Bona 2011, Falasco et al. 2012).

Different ecological groups of Black Sea diatoms have been actively studied, especially from the perspective of water quality assessment (Petrov and Nevrova 2007, Ryabushko et al. 2017, Ryabushko et al. 2019, Ryabushko et al. 2021). Additionally, there is ongoing research on diatom diversity of specially protected natural sea areas of the Black Sea (Nevrova 2015, Ryabushko et al. 2018, Polyakova and Davidovich 2019, Ryabushko et al. 2021, Davidovich and Polyakova 2022). In a recent study of diatom communities in the water area surrounding Bolshoi Utrish (Anapa District, Russia), it was found that 77% of the biomass and 25% of the total phytoplankton abundance was composed of Bacillariophyta species (Yasakova and Kolesnikov 2021). Inland research of diatom communities have mainly been focused on Abrau Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the Abrau Peninsula (Kovaleva 2005, Kovaleva 2018). There are, however, a number of freshwater waterbodies and streams in the Abrau Peninsula and the nearby Black Sea coastal zone that are still understudied in terms of diatom diversity and distribution. We assume that some sampling locations (freshwater streams) on the territory of Utrish State Nature Reserve, especially without anthropogenic disturbance, potentially might be hidden hotspots of diatom biodiversity.

This study presents a taxonomical characterisation and occurrence dataset of the diatoms found in Mediterranean ecosystems of the Abrau Peninsula, north-western Caucasus, particularly in protected areas of Utrish State Nature Reserve. We aim to contribute to the current knowledge of diatom diversity and distribution in the freshwater and brackish inland water in the north-western Caucasus and its sub-Mediterranean ecosystems in particular.

Project description

Title: 

Diatom diversity, distribution and ecology in Mediterranean ecosystems of Abrau Peninsula, north-western Caucasus.

Personnel: 

Samples were collected on 12-20 July 2021 on the Abrau Peninsula by Alisa Neplyukhina and Angelina Paskhina. Identifications were made by Alisa Neplyukhina. Statistical analyses were performed by Daniil Korobushkin and Ruslan Saifutdinov. The text was written by Alisa Neplyukhina, Daniil Korobushkin and Ruslan Saifutdinov.

Study area description: 

The Abrau Peninsula is located between the city of Anapa and Abrau-Durso settlement in Novorossiysk District, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Most of the Abrau Peninsula is under the protection of the Utrish State Nature Reserve (hereinafter referred to as "Utrish") and is not affected or disturbed by human activity, with the exception of the coastal zone and suburbs. The Abrau Peninsula has a humid subtropical (Cfa) and Mediterranean climate (Csa) according to the Köppen climate classification with cool rainy winters without stable snow cover and with hot dry summers (Chen and Chen 2013). The mean annual precipitation ranges from 480 mm (Anapa) to 788 mm (Novorossiysk), the mean July and February temperatures for both localities are 21℃ and 2℃, respectively (weatherbase, CantyMedia 2022).

The study area belongs to the Mediterranean ecoregion (Olson et al. 2001, Ogureeva et al. 2018) and is the only place in Russia covered by Mediterranean forests. The vegetation here forms three major belts (Bocharnikov et al. 2020, Seregin and Suslova 2007): 1. coastal slopes with sub-Mediterranean xerophytic forests and shrublands with pistachio (Pistacia mutica), juniper (Juniperus excelsa, J. oxycedrus, J. foetidissima), oak (Quercus pubescens) and oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis); 2. piedmont and low-mountain area with a combination of mesophilic and xerophilic forests and a predominance of two oak species (Q. pubescens, Q. petrea), oriental hornbeam and junipers; 3. low mountains with mesophilic deciduous forests with a domination of oak (Q. petrea), hornbeam (Carpinus caucasica), lime (Tilia begoniifolia), maple (Acer laetum), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and beech (Fagus orientalis). A distinctive feature of the Utrish flora is unique pronounced Mediterranean core tertiary relict elements. It is inhabited by numerous rare, endemic species of flora and fauna.

Freshwater habitats are represented by permanent and temporary streams flowing to the Black Sea, as well as temporary small waterbodies (hereinafter referred as "puddles") scattered across the Abrau Peninsula. Brackish habitats are represented by small permanent lagoons located along the coastline.

Sampling methods

Description: 

Diatoms were collected from 67 sampling sites, including 39 permanent streams, 21 temporal waterbodies (puddles) and seven permanent waterbodies (lakes and lagoons) collected on the Abrau Peninsula, north-western Caucasus, Russia (Fig. 1, Table 1).

Table 1.
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Samples code, location of the sampling sites, site type and sample type on the Abrau Peninsula.

Sampling code Laboratory codename Latitude (ºN) Longitude (ºW) Site type Salinity Sample type Commentary
1 UT-2021-1 44.7582 37.4783 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
2 UT-2021-2 44.7582 37.4783 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
3 UT-2021-3 44.7637 37.4498 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Rock scrap
4 UT-2021-4 44.7627 37.4556 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
5 UT-2021-5 44.7623 37.4573 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment
6 UT-2021-6 44.7637 37.4497 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Soil
7 UT-2021-7 44.7635 37.4520 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Soil
8 UT-2021-8 44.7627 37.4556 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
9 UT-2021-9 44.7627 37.4556 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment
10 UT-2021-10 44.7627 37.4556 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
11 UT-2021-11 44.7582 37.4782 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
12 UT-2021-12 44.7582 37.4782 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
13 UT-2021-13 44.7635 37.4520 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
14 UT-2021-14 44.7572 37.4713 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
15 UT-2021-15 44.7606 37.4986 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
16 UT-2021-16 44.7623 37.4573 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
17 UT-2021-17 44.7097 37.4561 Permanent Freshwater Rock scrap
18 UT-2021-18 44.7887 37.4765 Stream Freshwater Sediment
19 UT-2021-19 44.7737 37.5125 Stream Freshwater Sediment
20 UT-2021-20 44.7094 37.4562 Permanent Freshwater Sediment
21 UT-2021-21 44.7239 37.4522 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Soil No diatoms found
22 UT-2021-22 44.7887 37.4765 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
23 UT-2021-23 44.7151 37.4476 Permanent Freshwater Soil
24 UT-2021-24 44.7552 37.4574 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
25 UT-2021-25 44.7737 37.5125 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
26 UT-2021-26 44.7887 37.4764 Stream Freshwater Sediment
27 UT-2021-27 44.7093 37.4561 Permanent Freshwater Sediment
28 UT-2021-28 44.7178 37.5495 Stream Freshwater Sediment
29 UT-2021-29 44.7851 37.4844 Stream Freshwater Sediment
30 UT-2021-30 44.6946 37.5154 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
31 UT-2021-31 44.7606 37.4986 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Soil
32 UT-2021-32 44.7888 37.4765 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
33 UT-2021-33 44.7851 37.4844 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
34 UT-2021-34 44.7737 37.5125 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
35 UT-2021-35 44.7888 37.4765 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
36 UT-2021-36 44.7247 37.4885 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
37 UT-2021-37 44.6941 37.5152 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
38 UT-2021-38 44.7247 37.4885 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
39 UT-2021-39 44.7178 37.5495 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
40 UT-2021-40 44.6945 37.5154 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
41 UT-2021-41 44.7178 37.5495 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
42 UT-2021-42 44.7888 37.4765 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
43 UT-2021-43 44.7093 37.4561 Permanent Freshwater Sediment
44 UT-2021-44 44.7247 37.4885 Stream Freshwater Sediment
45 UT-2021-45 44.7638 37.4498 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
46 UT-2021-46 44.7582 37.4782 Stream Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
47 UT-2021-47 44.7247 37.4885 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
48 UT-2021-48 44.7247 37.4885 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
49 UT-2021-49 44.7709 37.5175 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
50 UT-2021-50 44.7737 37.5125 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
51 UT-2021-51 44.7710 37.5156 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
52 UT-2021-52 44.7690 37.5197 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
53 UT-2021-53 44.7697 37.5183 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Soil No diatoms found
54 UT-2021-54 44.7690 37.5197 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
55 UT-2021-55 44.7862 37.4474 Temporary, Stream Freshwater Sediment
56 UT-2021-56

44.7741

 37.5111 Stream Freshwater Sediment
57 UT-2021-57 44.7691 37.5199 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
58 UT-2021-58 44.7711 37.5155 Temporary (Puddle) Freshwater Sediment No diatoms found
59 UT-2021-59 44.8007 37.4420 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
60 UT-2021-60 44.8007 37.4421 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap No diatoms found
61 UT-2021-61 44.8007 37.4420 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap, Sediment
62 UT-2021-62 44.7918 37.3940 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
63 UT-2021-63 44.7918 37.3940 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap, Sediment
64 UT-2021-64 44.7254 37.4368 Stream Freshwater Rock scrap
65 UT-2021-65 44.7345 37.4199 Permanent Brackish Rock scrap
66 UT-2021-66 44.7354 37.4170 Permanent Brackish Rock scrap
67 UT-2021-67 44.74781 37.4061 Stream Brackish Moss squeeze, Rock scrap
Figure 1.  

Study area and sampling sites location (Map source credits: https://wego.here.com).

Sampling description: 

Material for this research was collected in July 2021. Sampling was carried out after the annual peak of summer precipitation in June (CantyMedia 2022) and performed after a week of strong rains (CantyMedia 2022). This made it possible to collect material from both permanent and temporary waterbodies. Diatom samples were collected from 67 sites on the Abrau Peninsula (Table 1). The sampling sites differed in salinity from brackish to freshwater. Sample types include 36 rock scrap samples, 24 sediments samples, six soil samples and one moss squeeze sample. Diatom samples were collected in 50 ml plastic containers and immediately fixed with Lugol's solution (2 ml to 50 ml of sample) in order to keep other algae groups in their best condition for futher research (Sadchikov 2003). Material was cleaned from the organics in accordance with the hot peroxide method following Kelly et al. (2001). Light microscopical investigations were performed in bright-field optics using a Leica DM 750 microscope, equipped with a Leica ICC50 HD digital camera. Permanent slides were prepared with Naphrax®. For the scanning electron microscopy investigation, drops of cleaned material were air-dried on pieces of aluminium foil, mounted on brass stubs with double-sided carbon tape and coated with Au in a S150A Sputter Coater (Edwards, UK) ion coater. Scanning electron microscopic investigations were conducted using TESCAN MIRA 3 LMH (TESCAN, Czech Republic) in the Joint Usage Center «Instrumental methods in ecology» at the IEE RAS. All prepared LM slides and SEM stubs are stored in the collection of the Laboratory for Ecology of Aquatic Communities and Invasions, IEE RAS.

Quality control: 

For diatom identification, a number of manuals were used (Lange-Bertalot 2001, Kulikovskiy et al. 2016, Cantonati et al. 2017). Valid diatom taxon names were verified according to Guiry and Guiry (2022). Data on diatom ecology are given according to Kulikovskiy et al. (2016), Cantonati et al. (2017) and Guiry and Guiry 2022 .

Step description: 

The data have been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardised format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 215 occurrences (Neplyukhina et al. 2022).

Statistical analysis: Similarity between diatom communities of Abrau Peninsula was evaluated using hierarchical cluster analysis. Before analysis, the data were prepared via the dplyr 1.0.8. package (Wickham et al. 2018) into species x communities matrix with presence/absence data. Data on diatoms were pooled into communities according to their presence in the habitat type (stream, waterbody or puddle) and according to the sampling method (scrap, sediment, moss and soil). A detailed description of habitat type selection and sampling methods is given in Table 1. Distances between communities were calculated using a binary method and the Ward.D2 method was selected for the hierarchical clustering procedure. Additionally for each cluster, bootstrap probability value (BP) and approximately unbiased (AU) probability values (p-values) were calculated via multi-scale bootstrap on 10000 resamplings using the package pvclust 2.2-0 (Suzuki and Shimodaira 2006). To define our clusters, we used a significance level of p < 0.05, i.e. the AU value equal or higher than 95. The obtained dendrogram was customised with the dendextend 1.15.2 package (Galili 2015). The above analyses were performed in R 4.1.2 (R Core Team 2021) with R Studio interface (R studio Inc.). To analyse the correlation between the species richness of diatoms belonging to a particular ecological group and their presence in various habitats of the Abrau Peninsula, the principal component analysis (PCA) was applied. Sampled habitats (freshwater puddles, freshwater streams, freshwater waterbodies and brackish waterbodies in accordance with Table 1) and separability preferences (eutrophic, mesotrophic, oligotrophic, polluted water) were selected as active variables, while environment preferences (freshwater, brackish, marine) were chosen as additional (passive) ones. Prior to the analysis, data were Z-transformed to homogenise the variance. PCA analysis were performed using Statistica 13.0 software (TIBCO Software Inc., USA).

Geographic coverage

Description: 

Utrish State Nature Reserve, Abrau Peninsula, north-western Caucasus, Russia

Coordinates: 

44.694123 N and 44.800702 N Latitude; 37.394033 E and 37.5495 E Longitude.

Taxonomic coverage

Description: 

All diatoms were identified to genus or species/intraspecific level. In total, 88 infrageneric taxa were identified belonging to two classes, 12 orders, 25 families and 39 genera distributed in the subphylum Bacillariophytina, 11 of them being identified only to genus level. The taxonomic coverage of the diatoms found in studied material is given in Table 2. The diatom species list with their ecological preferences, distribution and occurrence is given in Table 3.

Table 2.
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Taxonomic coverage of diatoms from studied samples.

Orders Families Genera Total taxa Total species
Achnanthales 3 4 10 8
Bacillariales 1 3 13 13
Bacillariophyta ordo incertae sedis 1 1 1 1
Cymbellales 2 7 14 12
Fragilariales 3 3 3 3
Licmophorales 1 1 1
Mastogloiales 1 1 5 2
Naviculales 10 13 28 22
Rhabdonematales 1 2 2 2
Rhopalodiales 1 1 1 1
Surirellales 1 1 3 2
Thalassiophysales 1 2 7 7
Table 3.
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List of diatom species found in samples with notes on their ecology, distribution and occurrence (number of samples). Data on ecology and distribution are given according to Kulikovskiy et al. 2016, Cantonati et al. (2017), and Guiry and Guiry 2022 .

Taxa Abbreviation for taxa Habitat Distribution Saprobility Water chemistry Accuracy
Achnanthes brevipes var. brevipes C.Agardh ACHBRE Brackish, Marine Widely distributed 1
Achnanthes sp. ACHSP 1
Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki ACHNMIN Freshwater Cosmopolitan 8
Achnanthidium sp. ACHNSP 1
Achnanthidium straubianum (Lange-Bertalot) Lange-Bertalot ACHNSTR Freshwater Arctic-alpine Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Calcium-bicarbonate rich 5
Amphora inariensis Krammer AMINA Freshwater Widely distributed Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic 4
Amphora indistincta Levkov AMINDI Freshwater Widely distributed Oligotrophic 6
Amphora ovalis (Kützing) Kützing s.l. AMOV Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic, Eutrophic 1
Amphora pediculus (Kützing) Grunow in A.W.F.Schmidt AMPED Freshwater, Brackish Widely distributed Oligotrophic 3
Brachysira aponina Kützing BRACH Marine, Brackish Widely distributed 3
Caloneis cf. vasileyevae Lange-Bertalot, Genkal & Vekhov CALVAS Freshwater Holarctic 4
Cocconeis euglypta Ehrenberg COCCEU Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Alkaline 3
Cocconeis lineata Ehrenberg COCCLIN Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Alkaline 9
Cocconeis pediculus Ehrenberg COCCPED Freshwater Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Alkaline 1
Cocconeis placentula Ehrenberg s.l. COCCPLAT Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic, Eutrophic 1
Craticula accomoda (Hustedt) D.G.Mann in Round, R.M.Crawford & D.G.Mann CRATACC Freshwater Cosmopolitan Eutrophic, Polluted water 1
Craticula cf. buderi (Grunov ex Van Heurck) D.G.Mann. CRATBUD Freshwater, Brackish Widely distributed 1
Craticula dissociata (E.Reichardt) E.Reichardt CRATDISS Freshwater Holarctic Eutrophic 1
Craticula molestiformis (Hustedt) Mayama CRATMOL Freshwater Cosmopolitan Eutrophic, Polluted water 1
Ctenophora sp. CTENSP 1
Cymbella affinis Kützing CYMAFF Freshwater Widely distributed, Alpine Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 3
Cymbella hantzschiana Krammer CYMHANTZ Freshwater Widely distributed Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic 3
Cymbopleura sp. CYMSP 1
Diatoma tenuis C.Agardh DIATTEN Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan 2
Diploneis cf. carloswetzelii Lange-Bertalot & Fuhrmann DIPCAR Freshwater 1
Diploneis krammeri Lange-Bertalot & E.Reichardt DIPKRAM Freshwater Arctic-Alpine Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Alkaline, Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 2
Diploneis oculata (Brébisson) Cleve DIPOCU Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 1
Encyonopsis microcephala (Grunow) Krammer ENCYMIC Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 4
Encyonopsis subminuta Krammer & E.Reichardt in Krammer ENCYSUBM Freshwater Holarctic Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 1
Fallacia cf. subhamulata (Grunow) D.G.Mann in Round, R.M.Crawford & D.G.Mann ENCYSUBH Freshwater Holarctic Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Alkaline 2
Fragilariforma bicapitata (A.Mayer) D.M.Williams & Round FRAGBIC Freshwater Holarctic Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Acidic, Siliceous 2
Frustulia vulgaris (Thwaites) De Toni FRUSTV Freshwater Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic 2
Geissleria sp. GEISSP Freshwater 1
Gomphonema angustum C.Agardh GOMANG Freshwater Cosmopolitan Calcium-bicarbonate rich 1
Gomphonema pumilum var. rigidum E.Reichardt & Lange-Bertalot GOMPUM Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Calcium-bicarbonate rich 9
Gomphonema pygmaeum J.Kociolek & E.Stoermer GOMPYG Freshwater Holarctic 4
Gomphonema micropus Kützing GOMMIC Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Alkaline 4
Gomphonema parvulum (Kützing) Kützing s.l. GOMPAR Freshwater Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Alkaline 6
Gomphonema subclavatum (Grunow) Grunow GOMSUB Freshwater Oligotrophic 2
Halamphora bicapitata (M.H.Hohn & J.Hellerman) J.G.Stepanek & Kociolek HALABI Holarctic 4
Halamphora coffeiformis (C.Agardh) Mereschkowsky HALACOFFE Brackish Cosmopolitan 1
Halamphora montana (Krasske) Levkov HALAMON Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Alkaline 4
Hantzschia amphioxys (Ehrenberg) Grunow in Cleve & Grunow HANTZAM Freshwater Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic 3
Hantzschia abundans Lange-Bertalot HANTZAB Freshwater Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic, Eutrophic 1
Humidophila contenta (Grunow) R.L.Lowe & al. HUMCON Freshwater, Aerophilic Cosmopolitan 3
Luticola acidoclinata Lange-Bertalot in Lange-Bertalot & Metzeltin LUTAC Freshwater, Aerophilic Holarctic Oligotrophic Weakly acidic 1
Luticola cf. ventricosa (Kützing) D.G.Mann in Round, R.M.Crawford & D.G.Mann LUTVEN Freshwater, Aerophilic Cosmopolitan 1
Luticola mutica (Kützing) D.G.Mann in Round, R.M.Crawford & D.G.Mann LUTMUT Freshwater, Brackish, Aerophilic Cosmopolitan 2
Luticola nivalis (Ehrenberg) D.G.Mann in Round, R.M.Crawford & D.G.Mann LUTNIV Freshwater, Aerophilic Holarctic Oligotrophic 1
Mastogloia lanceolata Thwaites ex W. Smith MASTL Brackish,Marine 2
Mastogloia pusilla var. pusilla Grunow MASTP Brackish, Marine 1
Mastogloia sp.1 MAST1 Brackish, Marine 1
Mastogloia sp.2 MAST2 Brackish, Marine 1
Mastogloia sp.3 MAST3 Brackish, Marine 2
Meridion circulare var. constrictum (Ralfs) Van Heurck MERCIR Freshwater Holarctic Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic 2
Navicula antonii Lange-Bertalot NAVANT Freshwater 7
Navicula blazencicae Z.Levkov & S.Krstic NAVBLA Freshwater Alpine 2
Navicula cincta (Ehrenb.) Ralfs in A.Pritch. NAVCINC 1
Navicula cryptotenella NAVCRY 2
Navicula sp. NAVSP 4
Navicula tripunctata (O.F.Müller) Bory in Bory de Saint-Vincent NAVTRI Freshwater Cosmopolitan Eutrophic 3
Navicula vulpina Kützing NAVVUL Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 1
Navicymbula pussila (Grunow) Krammer NAVYPUS Brackish Cosmopolitan Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 1
Neidiomorpha binodiformis (Krammer) M.Cantonati, Lange-Bertalot & N.Angeli NEIDBI Freshwater Holarctic Oligotrophic 1
Nitzschia clausii Hantzsch NITZCLAUS Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic 1
Nitzschia denticula Grunow NITZDEN Freshwater Widely distributed Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Сalcium-bicarbonate rich 4
Nitzschia linearis W.Smith NITZLIN Freshwater Holarctic Eutrophic Alkaline 4
Nitzschia schwabei Krasske ex Lange-Bertalot NITZSCH Brackish Holarctic 4
Nitzschia tenuis W.Smith NITZTE Freshwater Holarctic Eutrophic 1
Nitzschia thermaloides Hustedt NITZTHE Marine, Brackish Holarctic 2
Nitzschia tubicola Grunow in Cleve & Grunow NITZTU Marine, Brackish Cosmopolitan 5
Nitzschia valdestriata Aleem & Hustedt NITZVA Freshwater, Brackish Widely distributed 1
Pinnularia bertrandii var. angustefasciata Krammer PINNBET Freshwater Holarctic 1
Pinnularia borealis var. scalaris (Ehrenberg) Rabenhorst PINNBOR Freshwater Widely distributed Siliceous 1
Planothidium frequentissimum (Lange-Bertalot) Lange-Bertalot PLANFRE Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic Alkaline 11
Playaensis citrus (Krasske) E.Reichardt PLAYCI Freshwater Widely distributed 1
Pleurosigma elongatum W.Smith PLEU 1
Pseudostaurosira brevistriata (Grunow) D.M.Williams & Round PSEUSBRE Freshwater, Brackish Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Calcium-bicarbonate rich 1
Reimeria uniseriata S.E.Sala, J.M.Guerrero & M.E.Ferrario REIMUN Freshwater Widely distributed 4
Rhopalodia gibba (Ehrenberg) O.Müller RHOGI Freshwater Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic, Eutrophic Alkaline 1
Sellaphora sp. SELLSP 1
Stauroforma exiguiformis (Lange-Bertalot) R.J.Flower, V.J.Jones & Round STAUREXI Freshwater Cosmopolitan Eutrophic Acidic 1
Surirella angusta Kützing SURAN Freshwater Widely distributed Mesotrophic, Eutrophic 1
Surirella ovalis Brébisson SUROV Brackish, Marine Cosmopolitan 1
Surirella sp. SURSP Brackish, Marine 1
Tryblionella angustata W.Smith TRYAN Freshwater, Brackish, Marine Cosmopolitan 2
Tryblionella apiculata W.Gregory TRYAP Freshwater, Brackish, Marine Cosmopolitan Oligotrophic, Mesotrophic 2
Tryblionella hungarica (Grunow) Frenguelli TRYHUN Brackish Cosmopolitan Mesotrophic 5

Temporal coverage

Notes: 

July 12-20, 2022

Usage licence

Usage licence: 
Creative Commons Public Domain Waiver (CC-Zero)

Data resources

Data package title: 
Diatoms of Utrish State Nature Reserve, Abrau Peninsula (Russia)
Resource link: 
https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/download?dataset_key=021f55ef-ec0c-427e-9ba5-bbfa0778bd64
Alternative identifiers: 
http://gbif.ru:8080/ipt/resource?r=diatoms_utrish
Number of data sets: 
1
Data set name: 
Diatoms of Utrish State Nature Reserve, Abrau Peninsula (Russia)
Data format: 
Darwin Core Archive
Data format version: 
1.1 published on 2022-06-20
Description: 

This dataset presents the first data on the distribution of freshwater and brackish diatoms on Abrau Peninsula and especially in the territory of the Utrish State Nature Reserve. The data in this occurrence resource have been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardised format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 215 occurrences. This IPT archives the data and, thus, serves as the data repository.

Column label Column description
id The ID of the record.
type The nature of the resource.
basisOfRecord The specific nature of the data record.
occurrenceID Identifier of the record, coded as a global unique identifier.
eventID Identifier of the event, unique for the dataset.
eventDate Time interval when the event occurred.
country Country of the sampling site.
countryCode Code of the country where the event occurred.
LocationID Identifier of sampling location for this dataset.
samplingProtocol Description of sample collection method.
locationRemarks Notes about the features of sampling site.
decimalLatitude The geographic latitude of the sampling site.
decimalLongitude The geographic longitude of the sampling site.
geodeticDatum The spatial reference system upon which the geographic coordinates are based.
coordinateUncertaintyInMetres The indicator for the accuracy of the coordinate location in metres, described as the radius of a circle around the stated point location.
recordedBy A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people responsible for collecting material and recording the original Occurrence.
identifiedBy A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people who assigned the Taxon to the subject.
taxonID The identifier for the set of taxon information (data associated with the Taxon class). Specific identifier to the dataset.
scientificName The name with authorship applied on the first identification of the specimen.
acceptedNameUsage The specimen accepted name, with authorship.
kingdom Kingdom name.
phylum Phylum name.
class Class name.
order Order name.
family Family name
genus Genus name.
specificEpithet The name of the first or species epithet of the scientificName.
infraspecificEpithet The name of the lowest or terminal infraspecific epithet of the scientificName, excluding any rank designation.
taxonRank The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName.
scientificNameAuthorship The authorship information for the scientificName.
identificationQualifier Contains commentaries about taxon identification (marks sp., sensu lato etc.)

Additional information

Diatom diversity and occurrence

This study presents 215 diatom (Bacillariophyta) occurrences in 67 sites on the Abrau Peninsula, belonging to 88 different infrageneric taxa from 39 genera, 25 families, 12 orders and one class (Table 2). Eleven of the 88 taxa have been identified only to genus level. No diatoms were found in 30 out of 67 samples. The families with the highest number of occurrences (> 10%) were Bacillariaceae (35; 16.3%), Gomphonemataceae (30; 14%), Naviculaceae (24; 11.2%), Achnanthidiaceae (24; 11.2%) and Catenulaceae (23; 10.7%). These families also were with the highest number of taxa: Bacillariaceae (13), Naviculaceae (8), Catenulaceae (7) and Gomphonemataceae (7), except for Achnanthidiaceae with three taxa. Additionally, the family Cymbellaceae was represented with a high number of taxa (7) despite the low occurrence rate (only 6.5%). The families with lower occurrences (< 3) were Bacillariophyceae insertae sedis, Neidiaceae, Pleurosigmataceae, Rhopalodiaceae, Staurosiraceae and Ulnariaceae (1; 0.5%) and Amphipleuraceae, Brachysiraceae, Fragilarialceae and Pinnulariaceae (2; 1%). All these families are families with the smallest number of diatom taxa: one in all, except for Pinnulariaceae with two taxa. The genera with the highest number of occurrences were Gomphonema (26), Nitzschia (22), Navicula (20), Amphora (14), Cocconeis (14), Planothidium (11) and Achnanthes (10). Thirty-six genera had less than five occurrences.

The most common species were Planothidium frequentissimum (11 samples), Cocconeis placentula (9 samples), Gomphonema pumilum var. rigidum (9 samples), Achnanthidium minutissimum (8 samples), Navicula antonii (7 samples), Amphora inariensis (6 samples) and Gomphonema parvulum (6 samples) (Fig. 2).

Figure 2.  

LM and SEM images of the most common and some other diatoms findings on Abrau Peninsula: 1-3 Navicula blazencicae; 4-7 – Navicula antonii; 8-10 – Mastogloia sp.2; 11, 12 – Cocconeis placentula s.l.; 13, 14 – Achnanthidium minutissimum; 15, 16 – Brachysira aponina; 17, 18 – Planothidium frequentissimum; 19, 20 – Gomphonema parvulum s.l.; 21-23 – Amphora inariensis; 24-26 – Gomphonema pumilum var. rigidum; 27, 28 – Mastogloia lanceolata. Scale bar = 10 µm and applies for all images, except SEM pictures 7, 10, 16, 23, 26, 28. LM – light microscopy, SEM – scanning electron microscopy.

The richiest sites in number of taxa were UT-2021-67 (20 taxa), UT-2021-20 (freshwater puddle, 16 taxa), UT-2021-28 (freshwater waterbody sediment, 14 taxa), UT-2021-25 (soil sample of puddle, 11 taxa), UT-2021-54 (freshwater waterbody with antropogenic impact, 11 taxa) and UT-2021-66 (coastline brackish lagoon, 11 taxa).

The UT-2021-67 site is a quite unique sampling site, where freshwater from the Zhemchuzhnyj Waterfall stream mixes with seawater and rocks with water from the stream being covered with moss. From this site, we sampled both rock scrap and moss squeeze and found the highest diversity of diatom taxa (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.  

The view on Zhemchuzhnyj Waterfall, the hotspot of diatom diversity in Utrish Nature State Reserve. Rocks with algal film (left), stream water falls on stones covered with moss (right).

Light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the most frequently occurring species and some others are represented in Fig. 2.

Navicula blazencicae Levkov (Fig. 2, 1-3) was originally described by Levkov and colleagues (Levkov et al. 2007) from North Macedonia and, until now, has been known as the endemic of Lake Ohrid. In the study, it was found in two sampling locations represented by two freshwater temporal waterbodies (UT-2021-05 and UT-2021-09).

One of Mastogloia species, referred to as Mastogloia sp.2 (Fig. 2, 8-10), held a unique combination of morphometric characteristics (paratecta and raphe structural features) which we were unable to identify as a known species. Probably the same species was also found by A. Kaleli (Kaleli 2019) in similar habitats of coastline brackish waterbodies. According to the published illustration (see Mastogloia sp.1 in Kaleli 2019), the valves collected by A. Kaleli are quite similar to Mastogloia sp.2 in the current study and supposedly belonged to the same species, although it has also not been identified and needs additional verification. Beside that, two other Mastogloia species (Mastogloia sp.1 and Mastogloia sp.3) which were found in the current research are also likely to be new species and require further study.

Data analysis

The cluster analysis revealed a considerable modulation effect of habitat type on the floristic composition of diatom communities of the Abrau Peninsula (Fig. 4). Diatom communities collected from streams, regardless of the sampling method, were significantly dissimilar to the communities collected from waterbodies and communities collected from scraps and soils of puddles (p < 0.05). In turn, communities collected from waterbodies were combined with communities sampled from scraps and soils of puddles and formed significant clusters (p < 0.01).

Figure 4.  

Hierarchical cluster analysis using the presence/absence matrix of diatom communities collected by different sampling methods from various biotopes of Abrau Peninsula (binary method, Ward.D2 clustering). Different symbols at the nodes of clusters illustrates biotope types: triangles – streams, squares – puddles (temporary waterbodies) and circles – permanent waterbodies. Right part of labels illustrates the type of sampling method: Moss – moss squeeze, Sedim – sediment from the bottom of waterbody or stream, Scrap – scrapping from the stones and Soil – soil in the littoral zone of waterbodies. Values at branches are approximately unbiased p-values (red colour) and bootstrap probabilities (green colour) in percentage. Clusters that are framed by red dashed line are supported by a p-value < 0.05.

The results of cluster analysis suggest that the floristic composition of diatom communities from streams is quite different from that in small ephemeral water objects (puddles) and stagnant water bodies (such as ponds, lakes and lagoons). Although some of the species living in streams might sometimes be present in puddles (see Fig. 4), the floristic composition of streams is most likely conservative and does not mix with other types of water objects.

The ecological conditions of marine and brackish waterbodies were obviously antagonistic to freshwater, thus the PCA by factor 1 clearly and predictably separated the frequency of freshwater and marine and brackish species (Fig. 5). The frequency of occurrence of oligotrophic and mesotrophic species strongly and positively correlated with freshwater streams of Abrau Peninsula. Only here were collected freshwater species such as Amphora inariensis, A. pediculus, Cymbella affinis, C. hantzschiana, Encyonopsis microcephala, Gomphonema pygmaeum, Navicula tripunctata and Reimeria uniseriata. The majority of collected eutraphentic species tended to be from freshwater puddles (e.g. Craticula dissociata, C. molestiformis, Gomphonema parvulum) and, to a lesser extent, freshwater waterbodies of the study area. The latter were positively correlated with the occurrence of species that prefer polluted water and, conversely, were antagonistic to the habitats of oligotrophic species and stream habitats. This may be due to the location of this type of waterbodies mainly near recreational areas and settlements. Aerophilic species did not show any strong correlation with the studied habitat types.

Figure 5.  

Relationship between frequency of species occurrences with different separability (italic, active variables) and environment preferences (normal, supplementary variables) and in various investigated habitats (bold and italic, active variables) determined using the principal component analysis (PCA).

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project #19-74-10104. The identification of the diatoms was supported by RFBR, project #20-34-90011. The study was conducted using the Joint Usage Center «Instrumental methods in ecology» at the IEE RAS. The authors are grateful to O.N. Bykhalova, Deputy Director of Research at Utrish State Nature Reserve for the opportunity to work in the Reserve and for her help with fieldwork and samples collection. We also want to thank our friend, Ekaterina Petyukova, for help during the field compaign and collection of some samples. We would like to thank Dmitry A. Chudaev (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia) for valuable comments on diatom identification. We thank all reviewers and redactors for their comments and suggestions that helped us significantly improve manuscript.

Author contributions

AN and DK worked out the concept of the study. AN and AP carried out sampling collection in July 2021 on the Abrau Peninsula and Utrish Nature State Reserve. AN prepared samples and permanent microscopic slides and identified diatoms. RS and DK performed statistical analyses of obtained data. AN, RS, AP and DK worked on preparation of the Darwin Core archive dataset and text of the manuscript. All authors agree with the final version of the paper.

References

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