Original paper
Moss-inhabiting diatom (Bacillariophyta) communities from Gough Island, Southern Atlantic Ocean
Klímová, P.; Kohler, T.J.; Vijver, B. Van de; Kopalová, K.
Nova Hedwigia Band 120 Heft 1-4 (2025), p. 473 - 511
105 references
published: Apr 30, 2025
published online: Jan 29, 2025
manuscript accepted: Oct 14, 2024
manuscript received: May 15, 2024
DOI: 10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2025/0989
ArtNo. ESP050012031020, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
Isolated oceanic islands have long provided ecologists with important observations concerning the evolution of species, assembly of communities, and distributions of taxa. Meanwhile, diatoms (Bacillariophyta) have long served as proxies for investigating protist communities due to their species-specific frustules and environmental preferences. Here, we present results on the diversity, community controls, and biogeographic position of moss-inhabiting diatom communities of Gough Island, within the Tristan da Cunha Archipelago, southern Atlantic Ocean, which were morphologically analysed using light microscopy. Diversity indices were calculated with resulting community data, environmental drivers inferred from available metadata, and communities compared with other Southern Hemisphere islands from the literature to gauge their similarity and infer biogeographical patterns. A total of 115 diatom taxa (including species, varieties, subspecies and forms) were identified from Gough Island, and a small subset of these taxa dominated the samples. While genera were typical of moss-inhabiting communities found elsewhere, many of the taxa likely have distributions restricted to the Tristan da Cunha Archipelago, and perhaps even Gough Island itself. Elevation and influence of sea spray were the most important environmental variables assembling communities. Biogeographically, Gough Island communities were distinct from other Southern Hemisphere islands, and were most similar to southern Indian Ocean islands, including Crozet, Heard, and Prince Edwards. It was the most different from Campbell Island, followed by Antarctic Peninsula Islands. Collectively, Gough Island represents another example of islands promoting unique communities and putatively endemic diversity, and our results highlight the need to continue investigating them, especially in the context of a rapidly changing world.
Keywords
biogeography • bryophyte • community analysis • diatom • diversity • ecology • Gough Island • moss • South Atlantic Ocean • Tristan da Cunha