Diatoms as Indicators of Water Quality and Ecological Status: Sampling, Analysis and Some Ecological Remarks

Abstract

Diatoms are amazing microscopical algae whose typical feature is a siliceous coverage, called frustule, extremely diverse in shape. Diatoms live in almost all types of superficial waters. Depending on their habitats, diatoms are either planktonic (living suspended on the water), benthic (growing associated to a substrate), or both planktonic and benthic