Recent and fossil freshwater diatoms of Poland: taxonomy, distribution and their significance in the environmental reconstruction. Part 2. Eunotiales, Achnanthales and Cymbellales

Abstract

Diatom investigation from sediments of some lakes in northern Poland and Eemian paleolake deposits in central Poland, conducted since 2017 to the present, has resulted in the identification and imaging of a great number of diatom taxa. As a result of diatom data, and its significance in the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate reconstructions, the Faculty of Technical Sciences, John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska, Poland, in collaboration with the Department of Geomorphology and Paleogeography at the Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland and the Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt, initiated a project aimed at documenting the Polish diatom flora. This initiative seeks to enhance our understanding of native species, to serve as an introduction to the common species found in Polish ecosystems and offer essential data for sustainable biodiversity conservation. The main aim of this project was to create a comprehensive series of monographs that provide detailed information about the taxonomy, ecology, and distribution of diatoms found in various Polish ecosystems, as well as those preserved as fossils in Pleistocene-Holocene deposits. In 2022, the first part of this work was published, which included descriptions of 269 diatom species belonging to the central diatom classes Coscinodiscophyceae and Mediophyceae, as well as the pennales group of the subclass Fragilariophycidae. The current work represents the second part of the diatom monographs covering three orders of pennales: Eunotiales, Achnanthales and Cymbellales, which comprise 562 diatom species. Overall, this research serves as an essential resource for geologists, biologists, and botanists interested in the biogeographic distribution of diatoms, their taxonomy, and the reconstruction of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate conditions, particularly throughout the Quaternary period. It also acts as a reference for Polish researchers and a practical identification guide for freshwater diatoms recorded in Poland. Furthermore, the diatom data provided are designed to support future biomonitoring and paleolimnological studies, potentially serving as a valuable environmental marker for diatomists worldwide, particularly for researchers in Europe.