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CHECKLIST OF DIATOMS FROM THE LAURENTIAN GREAT LAKES
Citation:
Stoermer, A. F., R G. Kreis, AND N. A. Andresen. CHECKLIST OF DIATOMS FROM THE LAURENTIAN GREAT LAKES. JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH 25(3):515-566, (1999).
Description:
An updated diatom checklist for the Great Lakes is provided. The present checklist supplants the preliminary checklist published in The Journal for Great Lakes Research in 1978 and effectively represents a 20-year update. A series of procedures were used in this update which included: a reexamination of taxa reported in the 1978 list, additions of taxa reported from the Great Lakes during the past 20 years, and a revision of taxonomy, commensurate with systematic and nomenclatural changes which have occurred primarily during the past 8 years. 1488 diatom species or subordinate taxa are considered to be correct reports from the Great Lakes out of the 2188 diatom entities reported in the list. Of the 124 genera reported 105 are considered to be names in current use. The number of diatom species reported represents a 16.5% increase and the number of genera reported represents a 78% increase over those reported in the 1978 checklist. 13% of the species reported and 32% of the genera reported are due solely to nomenclatural changes. Results indicate that Great Lakes diatoms are a biodiverse component of the ecosystem, commensurate with the wide range of habitats found in the system. The present checklist indicates that most of the newly added species are primarily benthic or periphytic in nature and these represent largely understudied habitats. These results suggest that the present checklist may only represent approximately 70% or less of the extant diatom flora of the Great Lakes system.