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Water SA Manuscript
SHORT COMMUNICATION: Diatoms as indicators of historical water quality: A comparison of samples taken in the Wemmershoek catchment (Western Province, South Africa) in 1960 and 2008
Published: 2014
Report No: 3 012,00
Authors: Harding WR, Taylor JC
Abstract
Historical diatom records provide a means of retrospectively determining water quality and inferring ecological condition in rivers and streams. In this study we re-sampled sites originally sampled 48 years previously. We then determined the scores for the Biological Diatom Index (BDI) and the South African Diatom Index (SADI) for each dataset. The results revealed that the present day conditions in this relatively undisturbed locality were almost identical to those reflected by the samples collected half a century before. This illustrates the value of historical diatom data for the purposes of determining antecedent water quality.
Authors
HW
Harding WR
TJ
Taylor JC
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