Diatom research in southern and central Africa: Historical perspectives and current activities

Diatom research in southern and Central Africa has a rich history spanning more than a century; however, much of this research was on marine environments
and the African Great Lakes. In this paper we focus on the less studied riverine habitats.
Research on riverine diatoms can be loosely grouped into taxonomic and ecological studies, although we show in this paper that these two disciplines, of necessity, overlap. We
briefly summarize relevant diatom-based indices for inferring water quality in rivers and
streams and systematically report on recent efforts to use diatoms for ecological monitoring in southern and Central Africa. We deal in particular with the challenges faced when
studying the Central-African diatom flora and introduce the problem of diatom species
concept drift. We also relate these concepts to water quality monitoring. We discuss solutions and current efforts to resolve these issues. Importantly our work also focuses on
equipping scientists based in these regions with the tools for further studies.

Publication year:2015

Accessibility:Closed