Introduction
Assessments of environmental conditions in rivers and streams with diatoms have a long history, which has resulted in the development of the two basic conceptual and analytical approaches used today. First, based on the work of Kolkwitz and Marsson (1908), autecological indices were developed to infer levels of pollution based on the species composition of assemblages and the ecological preferences and tolerances of taxa (e.g., Butcher, 1947; Fjerdingstad, 1950; Zelinka & Marvan, 1961; Lowe, 1974; Lange-Bertalot, 1979). Second, Patrick's early monitoring studies (Patrick, 1949; Patrick et al., 1954; Patrick & Strawbridge, 1963) relied primarily on diatom diversity as a general indicator of river health (i.e., ecological integrity), because species composition of assemblages varied seasonally and species richness varied less. Thus, the concepts and tools for assessing ecosystem health and diagnosing causes of impairment in aquatic habitats, particularly rivers and streams, were established and developed between 50 and 100 years ago.
The many advances in the use of diatoms and other algae for monitoring stream and river quality have been reviewed by Patrick (1973) and, more recently, by Stevenson and Lowe (1986), Round (1991), Whitton et al. (1991), Coste et al. (1991), Whitton and Kelly (1995), Rosen (1995), and Lowe and Pan (1996). There are three major objectives for this chapter. First, we emphasize the importance of designing environmental assessments so that many approaches are used and results are based on rigorous statistical testing of hypotheses. Second, we review the many characteristics of diatom assemblages that could be used in assessments and the methods and indices of assessment.