Preliminary checklist for freshwater diatom species of the Karoo, South Africa
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Species checklists are a way in which local biodiversity can be monitored. There is no readily accessible database or checklist of diatom flora of South Africa. This publication gives an account of the diatom taxa encountered during two survey projects (2010–2012 and 2015–2017) within the Eastern Karoo.
Objectives: This list has been compiled to allow for: (1) comparisons with future research in the geographical area; (2) comparison with ecological data from other countries; (3) monitoring the occurrence of new species; and (4) documentation of the disappearance of ‘clean water’ indicator species.
Methods: Sampling took place in the area known as the Eastern Karoo during the two projects. Samples were scrubbed, cleaned and checked for live cells. Permanent slides were made and diatoms identified using light and electron microscopy. Each species was assigned a four-letter code from the software Omnidia version 6.
Results: A total of 474 taxa were encountered, some of which are, as yet, undescribed. This list contains taxonomic rank currently assigned as well as the Omnidia codes as this software is commonly used throughout the world and in South Africa for diatom assessment protocols.
Conclusion: The National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act does not cover the protection of diatom species, which can only realistically be conserved if the habitats in which they are found are also conserved. This species checklist can serve as a catalyst for a move towards legislation accepting the use of diatoms as bioindicators for freshwater within South Africa.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Archibald, R.E.M., 1983, ‘The diatoms of the Sundays and Great Fish rivers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa’, Bibliotheca Diamotologica, J. Cramer, 431 pp.
Barker, P.A., 1992, Diatoms as palaeolimnological indicators: A reconstruction of Late Quaternary environments in two East African salt lakes (Lake Magadi, Lake Manyara, Kenya, Tanzania), PhD thesis, Loughborough University, https://hdl.handle.net/2134/6931.
Bate, G.C., Smailes, P.A. & Adams, J.B., 2004, Benthic diatoms in the rivers and estuaries of South Africa: Report to the Water Research Commission, Report TT234/04, Water Research Commission.
Cameron, K., 2019, A bio-indicator assessment towards the rehabilitation of the Stiebeuel River, Franschhoek, South Africa, MSc thesis, Faculty of Humanities, University of Cape Town.
Cantonati, M., Hofmann, G., Spitale, D., Werum, M. & Lange-Bertalot, H., 2022, ‘Diatom Red Lists: Important tools to assess and preserve biodiversity and habitats in the face of direct impacts and environmental change’, Biodiversity and Conservation, 31: 453–477, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02339-9.
Cantonati, M., Kelly, M.G. & Lange-Bertalot, H. (eds), 2017, Freshwater benthic diatoms of Central Europe: Over 800 common species used in ecological assessment, Koeltz Botanical Books, Schmitten-Oberreifenberg.
Cantonati, M., Lange-Bertalot, H., Kelly, M.G. & Angeli, N., 2018, ‘Taxonomic and ecological characterization of two Ulnaria species (Bacillariophyta) from streams in Cyprus’, Phytotaxa, 346(1): 78–92, https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.346.1.4.
De la Rey, P.A., 2008, Evaluation of the applicability of diatom based indices as bioindicators of water quality in South African rivers, PhD thesis, North-West University.
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, 2009, Rapid Habitat Assessment Model Manual. Report no RDM/ Nat/00/CON/0707, Authors: Louw, D. & Kleynhans, C.J., Submitted by Water for Africa.
Department of Water and Sanitation, 2016, River Eco-status Monitoring Programme, https://www.dws.gov.za/iwqs/rhp/default.aspx [Accessed 19 September 2023].
Department of Water and Sanitation, 2017, Development of procedures to operationalise resource directed measures, Main Report, Report no RDM/WE/00/CON/ORDM/0117, Authors: Louw, D., Ewart-Smith, J., Huggins, G., Lötter, A., Mullins, W., Sami, K., Scherman, P., Van Niekerk, L. & Van Rooyen, P., prepared by: Rivers for Africa eFlows Consulting (Pty) Ltd.
Department of Water and Sanitation, 2022a, Determination of Water Resource Classes, Reserve and RQOs in the Keiskamma and Fish to Tsitsikamma catchment: Water resources information, gap analysis and models report, Report no.: WEM/WMA7/00/CON/RDM/0222.
Department of Water and Sanitation, 2022b, Classification of significant water resources and determination of resource quality objectives for water resources in the Usutu to Mhlathuze catchments: River Specialist Meeting Report, DWS Report, Prepared by: WRP Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd., DWS Report: WEM/WMA3/4/00/CON/CLA/0922.
Dixit, S.S., Smol, J.P., Kingston, J.C. & Charles, D.F., 1992, ‘Diatoms: powerful indicators of environmental change’, Environmental Science and Technology, 26(1), 22–33, https://doi.org/10.1021/es00025a002.
Garnett, S.T., Christidis, L., Conix, S., Costello, M.J., Zachos, F.E., Bánki, O.S., Bao, Y, Barik, S.J., Buckeridge, J.S., Hobern, D., Lien, A., Montgomery, N., Nikolaeva, S., Pyle, R.L., Thomson, S.A., Van Dijk, P.P., Whalen, A., Zhang, Z.Q. & Thiele, K.R., 2020, ‘Principles for creating a single authoritative list of the world’s species’, PLoS Biology, 18(7), e3000736, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000736.
Gordon, N., García-Rodríguez, F. & Adams, J.B., 2012, ‘Paleolimnology of a coastal lake on the southern Cape coast of South Africa: Sediment geochemistry and diatom distribution’, Journal of African Earth Sciences, 75, 14–24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2012.06.008.
Holmes, M., 2022, Can diatoms be used as a biomonitoring tool for surface and groundwater? Towards a baseline for Karoo water, PhD thesis, Nelson Mandela University.
Holmes, M. & Taylor, J.C., 2015, ‘Diatoms as water quality indicators in the upper reaches of the Great Fish River, Eastern Cape, South Africa’, African Journal of Aquatic Science, 40(4), 321–337, https://doi.org/10.2989/16085914.2015.1086722.
Holmes, M., Campbell, E.E., De Wit, M. & Taylor, J.C., 2022, ‘The impact of drought in the Karoo – revisiting diatoms as water quality indicators in the upper reaches of the Great Fish River, Eastern Cape, South Africa’, South African Journal of Botany, 149, 502–510, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2022.06.046.
Holmes, M., Campbell, E.E., De Wit, M. & Taylor, J.C., 2023, ‘Can diatoms be used as a biomonitoring tool for surface and groundwater? Towards a baseline for Karoo water’, South African Journal of Botany, 161, 211–221, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2023.08.013.
Janse van Vuuren, S. & Taylor, J.C., 2015, ‘Changes in the algal composition and water quality of the Sundays River, Karoo, South Africa, from source to estuary’, African Journal of Aquatic Science 40(4), 339–357, https://doi.org/10.2989/16085914.2015.1103695.
Joubert, K., 2021, The effect of illegal dumping on surface water quality using diatoms as a bioindicator, PhD thesis, North-West University.
Lecointe, C.M., Coste, M. & Ector, L., 2016, Logiciel Omnidia version 6: refonte complète’, in 35ème Colloque de l’ADLaF, pp. 38–38.
Lecointe, C., Coste, M. & Prygiel, J., 1993, ‘Omnidia: software for taxonomy, calculation of diatom indices and inventories management’, Hydrobiologia 269(270): 509–513, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028048.
Lecointe, C.M., Coste, M., Prygiel, J. & Ector, L., 1999, ‘Le logiciel Omnidia version 3, une puissante base de données pour les inventaires de diatomées et pour le calcul des indices diatomiques européens’, Cryptogamie Algologie 20, 132–134.
Mangadze, T., Taylor, J.C., Froneman, W.P. & Dalu, T., 2019, ‘Water quality assessment in a small austral temperate river system (Bloukrans River system, South Africa): Application of multivariate analysis and diatom indices’, South African Journal of Botany 125, 353–359, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2019.08.008.
Matlala, M., Taylor, J.C. & Van Rensburg, L., 2008, ‘The use of diatoms to indicate the quality of water in wetlands, a South African perspective’, Water Institute of South Africa, 145.
Musa, R. & Greenfield, R., 2018, ‘Use of diatom indices to categorise impacts on and recovery of a floodplain system in South Africa’, African Journal of Aquatic Science 43(1), 59–69, https://doi.org/10.2989/16085914.2018.1443907.
Otu, M.K., Ramlal, P., Wilkinson, P., Hall, R.I. & Hecky, R.E., 2011, ‘Paleolimnological evidence of the effects of recent cultural eutrophication during the last 200 years in Lake Malawi, East Africa’, Journal of Great Lakes Research 37, 61–74, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2010.09.009.
Pelser, E.L.C., 2015, Ecosystem health and water quality of the Mooi River and associated impoundments using diatoms and macroinvertebrates as bioindicators, PhD thesis, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus.
Piegari, G., De Biase, D., d’Aquino, I., Prisco, F., Fico, R., Ilsami, R., Pozzato, N., Genovese, A. & Paciello, O., 2019, ‘Diagnosis of drowning and the value of the diatom test in veterinary forensic pathology’, Frontiers in Veterinary Science 6, 404, https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2019.00404.
Rote Liste Zentrum, 2018, Süßwasser-Kieselalgen [freshwater diatoms], https://www.rote-liste-zentrum.de/de/Download-
Pflanzen-1871.html [Accessed 21 September 2023].
Roussouw, N., Bird, M.S. & Perissinotto, R., 2018, ‘Microalgal biomass and composition of surface waterbodies in a semi-arid region earmarked for shale gas exploration (Eastern Cape Karoo, South Africa)’, Limnologica, 72, 44–56, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2018.03.003.
Sala, S.E., Vouilloud, A.A.B. & Heguilor, S., 2018, ‘Valve morphology of Diploneis sudamericana nov. sp. and Diploneis elliptica (Kützing) Cleve’, Nova Hedwigia, Beiheft 147, pp. 295–306.
Schmidt, M., Fuchs, M., Henderson, A.C., Kossler, A., Leng, M.J., Mackay, A.W., Schemang, E. & Riedel, F., 2017, ‘Paleolimnological features of a mega-lake phase in the Makgadikgadi Basin (Kalahari, Botswana) during Marine Isotope Stage 5 inferred from diatoms’, Journal of Paleolimnology 58, 373–390, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-017-9984-9.
Schoeman, F.R., 1976, ‘Diatom indicator groups in the assessment of water quality in the Jukskei–Crocodile river system (Transvaal, Republic of South Africa)’, Journal of the Limnological Society of southern Africa 2(1), 21–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/03779688.1976.9632915.
Scott, K.R., Morgan, R.M., Jones, V.J. & Cameron, N.G., 2014, ‘The transferability of diatoms to clothing and the methods appropriate for their collection and analysis in forensic geoscience’, Forensic Science International 241, 127–137, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.05.011.
Täuscher, L., 2020, ‘Berichte des Landesamtes für Umweltschutz Sachsen-Anhalt Halle, 2. Algen’, Heft 1/2020: 55–75, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344358641_2_Algen_Berichte_des_Landesamtes_fur_Umweltschutz_Sachsen-Anhalt_Halle_Heft_12020_55-75 [Accessed 20 September 2023].
Taylor, J.C., 2004, The application of diatom-based pollution indices in the Vaal catchment, PhD thesis, North-West University, http://hdl.handle.net/10394/66.
Taylor, J.C., Van Vuuren, M.J. & Pieterse, A.J.H, 2007a, ‘The application and testing of diatom-based indices in the Vaal and Wilge rivers, South Africa’, Water SA 33(1), https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v33i1.47871.
Taylor, J.C., Harding, W.R. & Archibald, C.G.M., 2007b, A methods manual for the collection, preparation and analysis of diatom samples, (Report TT281/07), Pretoria, South Africa: Water Research Commission, https://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/1770054839.pdf.
Taylor, J.C., Harding, W.R. & Archibald, C.G.M., 2007c, An illustrated guide to some common diatom species from South Africa, pp. 1–225, Pretoria: Water Research Commission, https://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/
TT282-07.pdf.
Trobajo, R., Rovira, L., Ector, L., Wetzel, C.E., Kelly, M. & Mann, D.G., 2013, ‘Morphology and identity of some ecologically important small Nitzschia species’, Diatom Research 28(1), 37–59, https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.
734531.