DIATOM COMMUNITY STRUCTURE: TAXONOMIC AND STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF A MISSISSIPPI SALT MARSH1

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Abstract
Edaphic diatoms were collected on a seasonal basis from beneath five monospecific stands of spermatophytes on Graveline Bay Marsh (Mississippi) from 14 October 1976 through 21 June 1977. Of the 119 diatom taxa encountered. only seven were restricted to a single edaphic habitat, and five of these accounted for 17.2%of the individuals comprising the community associated withDistichlis spicata (L.) Greene. The single most abundant diatom wasNavicula tripunctata (Müll.) Bory, which accounted for 21.5%of all individuals counted during the study. Based on a 2‐way ANOVA of species diversity (H’) and the number of taxa in a sample, edaphic diatom community diversity was highest beneathD. spicataandSpartina patens (Ait.) Muhl., lowest beneathSp. alterniflora Loisel. and Juncus roemerianusScheele, and somewhat intermediate for theScirpus olneyiGray habitat. Structural differences between selected community pairs were quantified using a similarity index (SIMI) and the values generated were exceedingly variable. A multiple regression analysis revealed that structural differences amongst edaphic diatom communities were related to differences in elevation, far red light energy, ammonia nitrogen, soil moisture, and tentatively, height of the spermatophyte canopy.