PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Biodiversity and Environmental Factors Structuring Diatom Assemblages in the Protected High-Mountains Lakes of the Kaçkar Mountains National Park (Rize, Turkey)
Version 1
: Received: 22 January 2024 / Approved: 23 January 2024 / Online: 24 January 2024 (07:14:07 CET)
How to cite:
Şahin, B.; Barinova, S. Biodiversity and Environmental Factors Structuring Diatom Assemblages in the Protected High-Mountains Lakes of the Kaçkar Mountains National Park (Rize, Turkey). Preprints2024, 2024011696. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1696.v1
Şahin, B.; Barinova, S. Biodiversity and Environmental Factors Structuring Diatom Assemblages in the Protected High-Mountains Lakes of the Kaçkar Mountains National Park (Rize, Turkey). Preprints 2024, 2024011696. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1696.v1
Şahin, B.; Barinova, S. Biodiversity and Environmental Factors Structuring Diatom Assemblages in the Protected High-Mountains Lakes of the Kaçkar Mountains National Park (Rize, Turkey). Preprints2024, 2024011696. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1696.v1
APA Style
Şahin, B., & Barinova, S. (2024). Biodiversity and Environmental Factors Structuring Diatom Assemblages in the Protected High-Mountains Lakes of the Kaçkar Mountains National Park (Rize, Turkey). Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1696.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Şahin, B. and Sophia Barinova. 2024 "Biodiversity and Environmental Factors Structuring Diatom Assemblages in the Protected High-Mountains Lakes of the Kaçkar Mountains National Park (Rize, Turkey)" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.1696.v1
Abstract
The altitude of the habitat is one of the important regulators of species survival. Kaçkar Mountains National Park is located in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. This is the first study on the benthic diatom flora of the high mountain lakes in Kaçkar Mountains National Park, which is situated between 2782 and 3075 m a.s.l. A total of 84 diatom species were identified from benthic communities of 15 habitats in summer (19 July, 28 August) and autumn (10 September) months of 2020. The genus Pinnularia (13 species) formed the basis of the taxonomic list followed by Eunotia (5 species), Navicula (5 species), and Frustulia (4 species) genera, respectively. The waters in all the studied lakes were fresh, low-saline, with low-alkaline or circumneutral pH and organically uncontaminated as evidenced by prevailed bioindicator groups. Statistical methods and comparative floristic results confirm the role of the lake altitude for the diatom species distribution. Species richness was higher in lakes with lower altitude, but a statistical approach also revealed a tendency for it to increase with altitude if species richness increased. Further studies will be needed to continue exploring this pattern. In the first round of analysis, diatom species groups were categorized according to IUCN categories, revealing one potentially threatened and one rare species. To protect studied high mountain lakes, their ecological conditions must be constantly monitored in the Kaçkar Mountains National Park.
Keywords
high mountain lakes; diatoms; benthic habitats; environmental factors; bioindicator; threatened and rare species; Kaçkar Mountains National Park; Turkey.
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Aquatic Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
