Diatoms of Small Water Bodies as Bioindicators in the Assessment of Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts on the Coast of Tiksi Bay, Russian Arctic

Abstract

A total of 385 species of diatoms were identified in the phytoplankton of 14 small Arctic tundra water bodies in the vicinity of Tiksi Bay. We found that the species composition of phytoplankton in each lake is strictly individual. The ecological preferences of diatom species in the studied water bodies were determined for more than 90% of the list. Indicator characteristics show a certain response of the species composition of phytoplankton to changes in salinity and organic pollution. Several regularities were revealed in the spatial distribution of diatom communities in the study area in connection with the physicochemical parameters of their habitat, the height of the lake, its remoteness from the seacoast, and belonging to a specific watershed. Statistical mapping of the data on the diversity of communities and the chemical properties of water revealed a strong reaction of the communities of water bodies to point one-time anthropogenic pollution, and also made it possible to assume the influence of summer, northeast winds on the species composition as a climatic factor. The results of the study are important for developing the foundations for monitoring the non-impact (background), ecologically sensitive territory of the Arctic. They are highly relevant for assessing the consequences of local anthropogenic impacts and climate change in the future. Spatial ecological mapping in conjunction with bioindication can be used as a new method for identifying natural and non-natural stress factors.

Diversity and abundance of phytoplankton in Bone Bay, South Sulawesi, Indonesia and its relationship with environmental variables

“…Several research results carried out in bay waters, such as in Hurun Bay, have a high abundance of diatom species, especially Chaetoceros (Sidabutar et al 2022), also Thalassionema and Rhizosolenia in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh (Islam et al 2021). Similar results were also found in Tiksi Bay in the Russian Arctic (Barinova et al 2023), Georgian Bay in Canada, Sukhum Bay on the Abkhazian Black Sea coast (Selifonova et al 2019), and Jiaozhou Bay in China .…”

The Influence of Arctic Conditions on the Formation of Algae and Cyanobacteria Diversity and on the Water Quality of Freshwater Habitats on Kotelny Island, Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve, Yakutia

“…This indicates the high individuality of the floras of the Arctic islands. The same high individuality was noted when studying a group of reservoirs in the Tiksi region, in the territory adjacent to the protective zone of the Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve [61].…”

“…The high similarity of climatic variables on the islands of Kotelny and Bolshoy Lyakhovsky [60] in the absence of anthropogenic impact allows us to assume the similarity of water variables, even though only the taxonomic composition was studied, whereas for the Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, taxonomic composition, as well as some chemical variables, are known. It was previously established that Arctic cold northeastern winds have a major influence on the development of communities of continental waters of the coastal zone both in the Barents Sea and in the Laptev Sea [7,61].…”

Phytoplankton Life as an Indicator of the Reservoir Ecosystem State under the Influence of Thermal Pollution from the Electrical Power Plant in European North

“…Usually, a complex of dominants, especially at the beginning of the growing season, is formed in northern water bodies by Bacillariophyta [48][49][50]. Diatoms are known to prefer colder water and are abundant in temperate lakes and reservoirs in autumn and spring when water temperatures are cooler [56,57]. It should also be noted that in all the observed periods, Bacillariophyta predominates in terms of the number of species in the Pechorskoe Reservoir; in August, their number decreases, but remains quite high.…”