Linking phylogenetic similarity and pollution sensitivity to develop ecological assessment methods: a test with river diatoms

摘要

1. Diatoms include a great diversity of taxa and are recognized as powerful bioindicators of freshwater quality. However, using diatoms for bioassessment is costly and time-consuming, because most of the indices necessitate species-level identification. Simplifying diatom-based assessment protocols has focused the attention of water managers and researchers in recent years.