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Diatom Model Affinity (DMA), a New Index for Water Quality Assessment

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Abstract

A new index, diatom model affinity (DMA) was erected as a reference-based community metric, derived from generic and species composition. DMA provides an assessment of water quality by the calculation of percent similarity to a model community, which can be viewed as a reference standard. High similarity to the model indicates communities that are minimally disturbed, while lower similarity suggests water quality problems. The index is similar to that developed for macroinvertebrate communities by Novak & Bode (1992, Journal of the North American Benthological Society 11: 80-85). The index correlated well with environmental factors operating on hierarchical scales. Compared to other commonly used diatom indices, DMA-based community assessments demonstrated high correspondence to patterns derived from multivariate statistics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19498, Arlington, TX, 76019-0498, USA

    Sophia I. Passy

  2. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY, 12233, USA

    Robert W. Bode

Authors
  1. Sophia I. Passy
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  2. Robert W. Bode
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Passy, S.I., Bode, R.W. Diatom Model Affinity (DMA), a New Index for Water Quality Assessment. Hydrobiologia 524, 241–252 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000036143.60578.e0

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