Preliminary description of diatom community and its relationship with water physicochemical variables in Qixinghe Wetland

Wetlands play a very important role in ecosystems. Qixinghe Wetland is a nature reserve area in northeastern China. In this paper, diatom communities and environmental qualities were investigated at eight sites in Qixinghe Wetland. This study was to examine diatom species patterns in relation to environmental variables in wetlands, and to use diatoms as indicators to water quality in wetlands and wetland classification. Diatoms were sampled in summers and autumns in 2002 and 2004, during which 180 taxa were identified. Environmental variations in pH, temperature, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured. The seasonal composition and abundance of diatoms changed greatly during the study period. The relationship between diatoms and chemical water quality was estimated statistically. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) with forward selection and Monte Carlo permutation tests revealed that all water environmental variables changed during the study period (P