Benthic diatoms flora in limestone associated creek in Bau, Sarawak

• Main Author: Nur Najah, Binti Mustaffa
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2014
• Subjects: Q Science (General); QC Physics
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/27677/2/Nur%20Najah.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/27677/

The collection of benthic diatoms in a limestone associated creek in Bau, Sarawak was carried out in November 2013, and January and March 2014. Diatoms sample was randomly collected from the bottom substrates in the creek, preserved with Lugol solution, cleaned with the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H202) and finally preparation of permanent slides by mounting medium, Naphrax®. A total of 20 diatoms genera were identified. The most dominant benthic diatom identified there were Achnanthes, Cocconeis, Cymbella, Gomphonema, Navicula, and Nitzschia, while the least common genera were Amphora, Cyclotella, Cymbella Diatoma, Diploneis, Eunotia, Surirella, Synedra, and Thalassionema. The physico-chemical water parameters at the site were also measured which showed dissolved oxygen (DO) in range of 5.47 ppm to 11.16 ppm, temperature of 25.5 °C to 29.23 °C, 6.59 to 8.54 for pH, and conductivity from 40.4 µS to 114.47µS. The correlation among physico-chemical parameters data of the water with the percentage of occurrence of each genus was analysed using a Pearson's Correlation