Diatoms as bioindicators: Ecological aspects of the algae response to eutrophication in Latin America

Abstract

This paper discusses the taxonomic and ecological importance of epilithic diatoms as indicator organisms of water quality in lotic systems in Latin America, highlighting some ecological aspects of the response of these algae to eutrophication. Within the biotic indexes, the Pampean Diatom Index (IDP) was developed by Gómez & Licursi (2001) for Pampa’s region of Argentina, and the Water Quality Trophic Index (WQTI) for subtropical and temperate lotic systems in Brazil, was proposed by Lobo et al. (2015). In tropical countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador, recent research results looking for establishing the diatom tolerance to eutrophication suggest, in a general way, a lack of concordance with the trophic values of species tolerance available in the scientific literature. In The Basin of Mexico, Salinas (2017) shows the Diatom Ecosystem Quality Index (DEQI), highlighting that this work was the first to propose a numerical index for evaluating the ecosystems quality based on the epilithic diatoms community characterization in rivers of Mexico.