Structure and distribution of diatom communities in sediments of a mangrove system

Abstract

The structure of diatom communities from the sediments bordering the mangrove forest was determined for two periods (cool and warm) in five sites of Zona de Canales, and in a sixth site in the San Carlos area within the Magdalena-Almejas lagoon system. 325 taxa were identified at the species, variety and form levels. The greater number of species were represented within the genera: Navicula (33), Amphora (31), Nitzschia (26), Cocconeis (16) y Lyrella (15). The surveyed communities are composed mainly by a mixture of episammic and epipelic taxa. The distribution of dominant (highly) abundant and abundant species was very much continuous, in both periods and sampling sites. Out of the 24 most important taxa in terms of their abundances and frequencies (BVI), eight occurred in both periods. Diversity values (H y 1-?) were high in the six sampling sites during the two periods and showed no significant differences (? = 0.05) by site or date of sampling. Although the San Carlos site did not vary significantly from Zona de Canales (ZC) sites, in terms of diversity, it does in its species composition. The absence of Lyrella and Mastogloia species from this site, while being conspicuous in ZC is underlined. The diatom assemblages in the mangrove sediments of ZC in Bahía Magdalena are characterized by high species richness and diversity, homogeneously distributed, both temporally and spatially.