Water Quality Assessment

Diatom metrics methods are becoming important tools for the assessment of environmental conditions in aquatic systems. Diatoms have several advantages as bioindicators: their ubiquitous distribution across world aquatic environments, their ability to integrate multiple water quality features, and the relatively simple and standardized sampling and preparation methods. To date, several diatom indices have been developed, most of which are general pollution indices, especially indicative of eutrophication and organic pollution. This chapter reviews the literature concerning diatom-based analyses for biomonitoring purposes, with a first overview on available methods (microscopy-based, automatic identification, and DNA barcoding), and an account on bioassessment tools using phytobenthos in EU countries, with a special focus on the Spanish experience.