Eco-biology of marine diatoms with emphasis on the influence of physico-chemical parameters

Abstract

Diatoms constitute an important part of the microphytobenthic community in the intertidal sand flat. Intertidal sandflats are dynamic environments, where the tidally generated water movement and the associated processes of deposition and resuspension of sediment affect the composition and distribution of diatoms. A number of physical, biological and chemical factors may be responsible for the temporal and spatial variation in the diatom abundance, diversity, diatom richness and evenness. Taking the above into consideration, this thesis presents work carried out from a tropical marine environment and covers different aspects of eco-biology of diatoms. The study includes: 1)Diatoms of the benthic community 2) Diatoms of the fouling community 3) Modulations in the periphytic diatom diversity 4) Morphological changes and detection of diatoms