Study of terrestrial diatoms in corticolous assemblages from deciduous trees in Central Europe with descriptions of two new Luticola D.G.Mann taxa

Abstract

Although many studies have examined the algae associated with various habitats in tree trunks, the diatoms in these environments are still poorly studied. Studies of corticolous algae mainly focus on green algae and cyanobacteria, which are usually immediately visible, while diatoms are mostly overlooked or not reported. During the research, 143 species of diatoms were identified, including two new representatives of the genus Luticola: L. bryophilasp. nov. with relatively large central area and short distal raphe endings and L. confusasp. nov. characterized by the presence of small depressions on central raphe endings. Both are described herein based on light and scanning electron microscopy observations and compared to similar taxa based on literature data. Basic morphological data for almost all the diatom taxa are noted, and their habitat requirements, and photographic documentation are also presented. The present research showed that the occurrence of diatom assemblages on tree trunks is influenced by various factors like host tree species, the area where the host tree grows, and the availability of suitable microhabitats within the trunk. However, the species composition of this assemblages depends mainly on the tree species.

Description of five new Luticola D.G.Mann (Bacillariophyta, Diadesmidaceae) species from Indonesia with comments on the morphological boundaries of the genus

“…nov. The distal endings in L. bryophila are short and deflected to the side opposite the isolated pore ( Rybak et al 2023 : fig. 2Y–AA), while the raphe endings in L. elliptica sp.…”

“…Many genera of diatoms are recorded in terrestrial and aerophytic environments and Luticola D.G. Mann (in Round et al (1990 : 148)) seems to be one of the most diverse ( Chattová 2018 ; Bishop et al 2021 ; Rybak et al 2021a , 2023 ; Radhakrishnan et al 2022 ; Chattová et al 2022 ). However, representatives of this genus can also be found in other environments such as fresh-, brackish and marine water and even as epizoic on turtles ( Wetzel et al 2010 ; Levkov et al 2013 ; Wu and Bergey 2017 ; Rybak et al 2021b ).…”