Diatom Flora of the Low Countries
Project Information
The Dutch-Flemish Association of Diatomists (NVKD) presents the Diatom Flora of the Low Countries www.diatom.nl/species.
The main objective of this flora is to promote knowledge about diatoms in The Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium) (=the Low Countries). It is meant to be a reference guide (not an identification guide) to provide the most recent taxonomical information on taxa (‘taxon’ includes species, subspecies, varieties and formas) for analysts working on diatoms in the frame of biomonitoring and water quality assessment.
The flora will be an online document, growing and changing with time. This approach guarantees that the flora will never be outdated and that the list of species missing in the flora will get shorter in time. At present, the focus will be on (mostly benthic, non-planktonic) species from the fresh- and brackish realm. In the future, planktonic and/or marine species might be added.
Format
Each species is presented as a double A4-sheet as PDF-file, always one page text and one page with pictures in LM from a local (i.e. Dutch or Flemish) origin. Scanning Electron microscopy pictures can be added if they provide necessary information. When available pictures or drawings of the type material will be added. This way the flora will be printable and every analyst can work with the flora in a way that suits best to him/her.
As there are a lot of taxa in the Low Countries, that will need to be presented in this flora, it will take some time to complete it. Therefore, we invite all diatomists working in the Low Countries to participate in this flora!
Use & Copyright
Every user can freely download, copy or print each species sheet
Copyright of each species sheet is by the person who delivered the data. The name of this person will be published on the sheet.
Citation
The species sheets will be cited as: name author fiche, publication year, taxon name, Diatom Flora of the Low Countries, NVKD, www.diatom.nl/species
Enjoy the Flora! We welcome all your comments so we can improve this work. We are looking forward to the input from our colleagues!
The Low Countries Diatom Flora editorial team
Adrienne Mertens, Bart Van de Vijver, Jako van der Wal & Geurt Verweij