Diatom community structure as an indicator of water quality and pH at a chemically disturbed site in Northern Michigan.

Abstract

Algal communities like diatoms can tell us many things about water quality and past disturbances because of their increased sensitivity to factors such as pH and temperature. This study focused on comparing a recently disturbed site with unaffected sites in the same local area using diatom diversity in order to assess the efficacy of cleanup efforts. Water samples were taken from a total of nine sites and compared for diatom abundance and species composition, and experimental base-emitting devices were constructed in an attempt to induce a shift in the community profile. Principle components analysis was used to compare sites by grouping them by similarity and by algal abundance. This analysis showed that the previously disturbed sites at East Park show no current evidence of leaching or increased pH, leading us to conclude that the cleanup effort in this area was successful.