Diatoms Diversity of Thermal Springs in the Southwest Region, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, H. Botany | ||
| Article 7, Volume 8, Issue 2, December 2017, Pages 59-74 PDF (869.7 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/eajbsh.2017.17470 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Hatem E. M. Abdelwahab1; Abeer S. Amin2 | ||
| 1Faculty of Sciences and Arts, khulais branch, University of Jeddah Jeddah, KSA | ||
| 2-Faculty of Sciences and Arts, khulais branch, University of Jeddah Jeddah, KSA. -Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Hot springs have received attention in thermal systems around the world. Particularly, as they relate to Diatoms. Diatoms biodiversity of thermal springs in the southwest region, Saudi Arabia was studied. Seasonal collections were carried out in Gizan thermal springs in six localities from winter 2015 to autumn 2016. A total of 23 species have been identified, recorded based on their frequency. Fifteen species were considered the most dominant species. The majority of it is the inhabitant of Qowah spring, Diatoms present in high abundance in 80% of thermal spring in Gizan region. This may indicate that diatoms have an essential biological role in the development and stability of the thermal spring ecosystem. Diatoms are the most frequent species present in Saudi Arabia thermal springs based on this study. Four species Cocconeis pinnata, Cocconeis scutellum, Hantzschia amphioxys , and Melosira varians were only recorded in Qowah and are the only rare diatoms species. In this study, rare species with respect to all sites were abundant in Qowah. Therefore, Qowah is a reservoir of those rare species. Accordingly, Qowah protection will help protect these rare species. Indeed, it is recommended to generate regulations to protect biodiversity in Qowah thermal spring | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Bacillariophytaextreme habitatphysicochemical factors- Gizan; Saudi Arabia | ||
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