Hanging in the air: tree moss diatoms from Indo-Burma biodiversity hot spot of India

Abstract

Since research began in diatom ecology, scientists have focussed more on diatoms from aquatic habitats as opposed to aerial habitats. In this paper, we present the first dataset on diatoms from aerial habitats in the Indo-Burma hot spot. We have chosen the Blue Mountain region to collect tree mosses, an aerial habitat where diatoms thrive. We have addressed diatom composition and diversity in relation to altitude. Twenty-two moss samples were collected and 53 diatom taxa belonging to 21 genera were discovered and enumerated using light microscopy. The diatom flora of tree mosses is dominated by acidophilous genera Eunotia and Luticola, with both of the most abundant species Orthoseira roeseana and Luticola acidoclinata being euaerial and oligotraphentic diatoms. The samples from 1902-m altitude had the highest species diversity. Species richness was 8–22 diatom per sample, with an average of 14. The species accumulation curve shows that more diatom species will be discovered with additional sampling of aerial habitats in the Blue Mountain region.