Diatom Biodiversity in Urban Freshwater Ecosystems Opportunities and Challenges for Conservation

Artificial and natural urban water bodies could play a crucial role in preserving species, functions, habitats, and ecosystem services that may be unique to these systems or threatened elsewhere. Such ecosystems can contain a significant portion of local and regional biodiversity and have the potential to act as refugia in regions surrounded by sterile areas. A range of species, including diatoms, benefit from these islands of diversity. In this chapter we suggest that urban water systems could be important for maintaining diatom biodiversity and discuss the importance of diatoms for the monitoring and conservation of these systems. Our scientometric map showed that in urban systems, long-term research and rare species are understudied. The map also revealed a gap in research on benthic and periphytic habitats and the necessity for more integrated taxonomic and ecological approaches. We suggest that conservation and management of urban systems are crucial for preserving ecosystem services in areas where water bodies have been historically degraded by human activities. The understanding of the mechanisms driving diatom occurrence and biodiversity can provide insights into ecosystem resilience and restoration, which could guide conservation efforts and management decisions, and provide target conditions for policymakers and environmental managers.