Epipelic diatoms flora of Kordan river, Alborz province in Iran

Abstract

Maryam Mehrani Adl*, Taher Nezhad Sattari, Mostafa Noroozi and Younes Asri

Epipelic diatoms flora of Kordan River in Iran were investigated from September 2017 through September 2018. Sampling from 7 stations was conducted in three repetitions along the river. Simultaneously physiochemical analysis, temperature, DO, pH and EC, Na⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg^{2+, SiO₂, NO₃- and PO₄ 3- were measured. In this study, 91 species from 30 genera of diatoms were identified. High species diversity was seen in Navicula with 16 and Nitzschia with 11 species. Melosira varians was the most abundant taxon. The high population density of epipelic diatoms during this study was 14.19 × 103 cell/cm2. The study revealed that species diversity has demonstrated a relationship with SiO2, DO and temperature. The effect of physicochemical factors on species richness was also  evaluated. Investigating the relationship between the physico-chemical factors of water at different stations with species showed that chlorine had the greatest impact on the diversity of rivers’ diatoms. The results of ANOVA analysis showed that the effect of time and sampling station on the biomass of the epipelic diatoms were shown significant (p<0.5). This study is the first knowledge of the diatoms flora on this river and provides a basis for future investigations.}