Biodiversity of the benthic diatom flora in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gdańsk: a case study of the Gdynia–Sopot transect.

Conclusions The results of the diatom study in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gda'nsk, between Gdynia and Sopot, indicate the presence of a diverse flora belonging to epilithic, epipsammic, epipelic and epiphytic assemblages. The diatom research in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gda'nsk was used to determine the degree of water organic pollution ([7]; [72]) and to investigate diatom preferences with respect to habitat ([66]). Biodiversity of the benthic diatom flora in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gda'nsk: a case study of the Gdynia-Sopot transect Graph: Figure 2 The number of diatom taxa (species, subspecies, varieties, forms) versus ecological preferences: *eh-euhalobous, mh-mesohalobous, oh-oligohalobous halophilous, oi-oligohalobous indifferent; **et-eutraphentic, emt-eumesotraphentic, mt-mesotraphentic, mot-meso-oligotraphentic, ot-oligotraphentic, edt-eurydystrophic, ir-irrelevant; ***ps-polysaprobous, ams- -mesosaprobous, abms- - -mesosaprobous, bms- -mesosaprobous, os- oligosaprobous, x-xenosaprobous, ir-irrelevant Diatom taphocoenoses of the shallow coastal zone of the Gulf of Gda'nsk are usually dominated by benthic species. Despite many years of research on diatoms in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gda'nsk, knowledge about the relationship between the species composition of benthic diatoms and microhabitats requires further investigation. [Extracted from the article]