Abstract
This study examines distributional patterns of benthic diatom assemblages in relation to environmental characteristics in streams and rivers in the California Central Valley ecoregion. Benthic diatoms, water quality, and physical habitat conditions were characterized from 53 randomly selected sites. The stream sites were characterized by low mid-channel canopy cover and high channel substrate embeddedness. The waters at these sites were enriched with minerals and turbidity varied from 1.3 to 185.0 NTU with an average of 13.5 NTU. A total of 249 diatom taxa were identified. Average taxa richness was 41 with a range of 7–76. The assemblages were dominated by Staurosira construens (11%), Epithemia sorex (8%), Cocconeis placentula (7%), and Nitzschia amphibia (6%). Multivariate analyses (cluster analysis, classification tree analysis, and canonical correspondence analysis) all showed that benthic diatom assemblages were mainly affected by channel morphology, in-stream habitat, and riparian conditions. The 1st CCA axis negatively correlated with mean wetted channel width (r = −0.66) and thalweg depth (r = −0.65) (Table 4). The 2nd axis correlated with % coarse substrates (r=0.60). Our results suggest that benthic diatoms can be used for assessing physical habitat alterations in streams.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. J. F. Biggs (1996) Patterns in benthic algae of streams R. J. Stevenson M. L. Bothwell R. L. Lowe (Eds) Algal Ecology Academic Press San Diego, California 31–51
B. J. F. Biggs R. J. Stevenson R. L. Lowe (1998) ArticleTitleA habitat matrix conceptual model for stream periphyton Archive für Hydrobiologie 143 21–56
M. L. Bothwell (1989) ArticleTitlePhosphorus-limited growth dynamics of lotic periphytic diatom communities: areal biomass and cellular growth rate responses Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 46 1293–1301
L. R. Brown J. T. May (2000) ArticleTitleMacroinvertebrate assemblages on woody debris and their relations with environmental variables in the Lower Sacramento and San Joaquin River drainages, California Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 64 311–329 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1006482800472
L. A. Clark D. Pregibon (1993) Tree-based models J. M. Chambers T. J. Hastie (Eds) Statistical Models in S Wadsworth & Brooks Pacific Grove, CA 377–420
W. K. Dodds J. R. Jones E. B. Welch (1998) ArticleTitleSuggested classification of stream trophic state: distribution of temperate stream types by chlorophyll, total nitrogen, and phosphorus Water Resources Research 32 1455–1462 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXjt1Gmsr4%3D
W. K. Dodds (2003) ArticleTitleMisuse of inorganic N and soluble reactive P concentrations to indicate nutrient status of surface waters Journal of North American Benthological Society 22 171–181
M. Dufrene P. Legendre (1997) ArticleTitleSpecies assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach Ecological Monographs 67 345–366
M. B. Griffith P. Husby R. K. Hall P. R. Kaufmann B. H. Hill (2003) ArticleTitleAnalysis of macroinvertebrate assemblages in relation to environmental gradients among lotic habitats of California’s Central Valley Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 82 281–309 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1021994318025 Occurrence Handle12602632
J. P. Grime (1977) ArticleTitleEvidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological theory American Naturalists 111 1169–1194
R. K. Hall A. Olsen D. Stevens B. Rosenbaum G. Wolinsky P. Husby D. Heggem (2000) ArticleTitleEMAP design and river reach file 3 (RF3) as a sample frame in the Central Valley, California Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 64 69–80
M. O. Hill R. G. H. Bunce M. W. Shaw (1975) ArticleTitleIndicator species analysis, a divisive polythetic method of classification and its application to a survey of native pinewoods in Scotland Journal of Ecology 63 597–613
P. R. Kaufmann E. G. Robison (1998) Physical habitat characterizaton J. M. Lazorchak D. J. Klemm D. V. Peck (Eds) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program – Surface Waters: Field Operations and Methods for Measuring the Ecological Condition of Wadeable Streams. Office of Research and Develop., U.S. Envir. Protection Agency Washington, D.C 77–118
P. R. Kaufmann P. Levine E. G. Robison C. Seeliger D. V. Peck (1999) Quantifying Physical Habitat in Wadeable Streams. EPA 620/R-99/003. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Corvallis, OR
K. Krammer H. Lange-Bertalot (1986) Bacillariophyceae. 1.Teil: Naviculaceae VEB Gustav Fisher Verlag Jena
K. Krammer H. Lange-Bertalot (1988) Bacillariophyceae. 2. Teil: Epithemiaceae, Bacillariaceae, Surirellaceae VEB Gustav Fisher Verlag Jena
K. Krammer H. Lange-Bertalot (1991a) Bacillariophyceae. 3 Teil: Centrales, Fragilariaceae, Eunotiaceae, Achnanthaceae VEB Gustav Fisher Verlag Jena
K. Krammer H. Lange-Bertalot (1991b) Bacillariophyceae. 4 Teil: Achnanthaceae, Kritische Erganzungen zu Navicula (Lineolatae) und Gomphonema VEB Gustav Fisher Verlag Jena
S. Kroeger E. Fensin K. Lynch M. Vander Borgh (1999) United States Water Quality Programs that Use Algae as a Biological Assessment Tool North Carolina Division of Water Quality Raleigh, NC
F. J. Kutka C. Richards (1996) ArticleTitleRelating diatom assemblage structure to stream habitat quality Journal of North American Benthological Society 15 469–480
H. V. Leland L. R. Brown D. K. Mueller (2001) ArticleTitleDistribution of algae in the San Joaquin River, California, in relation to nutrient supply, salinity and other environmental factors Freshwater Biology 46 1139–1167 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2427.2001.00740.x
InstitutionalAuthorNameMathSoft (2000) S-Plus: Guide to Statistics. Data Analysis Products Division MathSoft, Inc. Seattle, Washington 875
B. McCune M. J. Mefford (1999) PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data, Version 4. MjM Software Design Gleneden Beach Oregon, USA
A. R. Miller R. L. Lowe J. T. Rotenberry (1987) ArticleTitleMicrosuccession of diatoms on sand grains Journal of Ecology 75 693–709
J. F. Mount (1995) California Rivers and Streams: The Conflict between Fluvial Process and Land Use University of California Press Berkeley, CA
R. Patrick C. W. Reimer (1966) The Diatoms of the United States. Vol. 1. Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, No.13, Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
R. Patrick C. W. Reimer (1975) The Diatoms of the United States. Vol. 1. Part 1. Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, No.13, Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
M. K. Saiki (1984) ArticleTitleEnvironmental conditions and fish faunas in low elevation rivers on the irrigated San Joaquin Valley Floor, California California Department of Fish & Game 70 145–157
D. L. Stevens SuffixJr. A. R. Olsen (1999) ArticleTitleSpatially restricted surveys over time for aquatic resources Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics 4 415–428
D. L. Stevens SuffixJr. (1997) ArticleTitleVariable density grid-based sampling designs for continuous spatial populations Environmetrics 8 167–95 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1099-095X(199705)8:3<167::AID-ENV239>3.0.CO;2-D
R. J. Stevenson (1997) ArticleTitleScale-dependent determinants and consequences of benthic algal heterogeneity Journal of North American Benthological Society 16 248–262
Stevenson, R. J. & Y. Pan, 1999. Monitoring environmental changes using diatoms in stream and river communities. In Stoermer E. F. & J. P. Smol (eds), The Diatoms: Applications to Environmental and Earth Sciences. Cambridge University Press: 11–40
R. J. Stevenson L. L. Bahls (1999) Periphyton protocols. Rapid bioassessment protocols for use in Wadeable Streams and Rivers: Periphyton M. T. Barbour J. Gerritsen B. D. Snyder (Eds) Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Fish EditionNumber2 United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 6-1–622
C. J. F. ter Braak (1986) ArticleTitleCanonical correspondence analysis: a new eigenvector technique for multivariate direct gradient analysis Ecology 67 1667–1679
C. J. F. ter Braak P. Smilauer (1998) CANOCO Reference Manual and User’s Guide to Canoco for Windows: Software for Canonical Community Ordination (version 4) Microcomputer Power Ithaca, NY
InstitutionalAuthorNameUSEPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) (1987) Handbook of Methods for Acid Deposition Studies: Laboratory Analysis for Surface Water Chemistry Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pan, Y., Hill, B.H., Husby, P. et al. Relationships Between Environmental Variables and Benthic Diatom Assemblages in California Central Valley Streams (USA). Hydrobiologia 561, 119–130 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-1609-z
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-1609-z