On the geographical distribution and ecology of Pseudostaurosira cataractarum (Bacillariophyceae): new findings in the Palearctic and Neotropic ecozones

GRANA LORENA; MORALES, EDUARDO; BETA,TOMÁ ; ECHAZÚ, DANIELA; WETZEL, CARLOS; NOVAIS, MARIA; RAJDLOVÁ, HANA; ECTOR, LUC; MAIDANA, NORA I.

REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE BOTâNICA

Springer

Lugar: San Pablo; Año: 2015 p. 1 - 15

0100-8404

The aim of this paper is to expand the current knowledge on the distribution, ecology and morphology of Pseudostaurosira cataractarum (Hustedt)C.E. Wetzel, E. Morales et Ector. We analysed severalfreshwater diatom assemblages within thePalearctic (Czech Republic, Europe) and Neotropic ecozones (Argentina andBolivia, South America). In all localities, small araphids were the dominant orco-dominant group. Inside this group P.cataractarum was only dominant in the samples from Argentina and CzechRepublic, while the Bolivian samples had only a few individuals. RDA and PCAanalyses show that the relative abundance of P. cataractarum was positively correlated with water conductivity.The following measurements resulted from the morphometricanalysis, apical axis: 2.8-8.2 µm,transapical axis: 2.7-7.2 µm and stria density: 15-29 in 10 µm. In conclusion,the present is the first report of P. cataractarum for continental Europe (fromfossil material) and the Neotropic ecozone (from extant populations). Besides arequirement for subaerial habitats, this taxon could be locally conditioned by water conductivity, although in each of theanalysed samples this species was associated with cosmopolitan diatoms that aretolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions. Based on the morphometricanalyses in studied populations, we propose that the size range for the apicaland transapical axes of P. cataractarumshould be expanded at the lower end of the range. Likewise, the range of striadensity should be expanded since it is wider than that presented for the typepopulation from Indonesia (Java). Consequently, an emended description is presented based on our study and onpublished data on type and fossil populations.Versión  digital se encuentra publicada (DOI 10.1007/s40415-015-0188-0) en la web de springer, la publicación en papel esta en la lista de impresión por parte de springer para el volumen 38(4) por lo que no se cuenta aún con no número de página