"UDE DIATOMS in the Wild 2024": a new image dataset of freshwater diatoms for training deep learning models.

Background: Diatoms are microalgae with finely ornamented microscopic silica shells. Their taxonomic identification by light microscopy is routinely used as part of community ecological research as well as ecological status assessment of aquatic ecosystems, and a need for digitalization of these methods has long been recognized. Alongside their high taxonomic and morphological diversity, several other factors make diatoms highly challenging for deep learning-based identification using light microscopy images.

Functional and compositional responses of stream microphytobenthic communities to multiple stressors increase and release in a mesocosm experiment.

Field observations form the basis of the majority of studies on microphytobenthic algal communities in freshwater ecosystems. Controlled mesocosm experiments data are comparatively uncommon. The few experimental mesocosm studies that have been conducted provide valuable insights into how multiple stressors affect the community structures and photosynthesis-related traits of benthic microalgae.

Relating environmental pressures to littoral biological water quality indicators in Western Balkan lakes: Can we fill the largest gaps?

Along six transects in each of six lakes across the Western Balkans, we collected data for three groups of littoral biological water quality indicators: epilithic diatoms, macrophytes, and benthic invertebrates. We assessed the relationships between them and three environmental pressures: nutrient load (eutrophication), hydro-morphological alteration of the shoreline, and water level variation, separating the effect of individual lakes and continuous explanatory variables. Lake water total phosphorus concentration (TP) showed substantial variation but was not related to any of the tested biological indicators, nor to any of the tested pressures.

Biofilms in caves: easy method for the assessment of dominant phototrophic groups/taxa in situ.

Domination of certain aerophytic phototrophic group or specific taxon in biofilms is connected with biofilm features recognised in situ. Well-developed, gelatinous, olive to dark-green biofilms are composed mostly of coccoid cyanobacterial forms. The same features, characterised biofilms dominated by one coccoid taxon, except the latter were vividly coloured.

Littoral eutrophication indicators are more closely related to nearshore land use than to water nutrient concentrations: A critical evaluation of stressor-response relationships.

Biological assessment metrics and water chemistry measurements are used to quantify the link between stressors and their effects on lake ecosystems, for the Water Framework Directive. However, correlations between metrics and water chemistry are often poor. This is seen as major weaknesses of Water Framework Directive-related monitoring and assessment.

Alkaline soda Lake Velika Rusanda (Serbia): the first insight into diatom diversity of this extreme saline lake.

Alkaline soda lakes are unique habitats found in specific geographic regions, usually with dry climate. The Carpathian Basin is one of those regions very important for habitat and biodiversity conservation in Europe, with natural soda lakes found in Austria, Hungary and Serbia. In comparison to other two countries from Central Europe, algal biodiversity studies of saline soda lakes in Serbia are scarce.