Diatoms from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, USA

Abstract

As a contribution to our knowledge of diatom biodiversity and biogeography in the United States, high resolution light microscope images are provided for 139 diatom taxa recorded from lake, stream, spring and glacier habitats in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. The spring had the highest taxa richness of the four habitats that were sampled, likely owing to the relative stability of this habitat compared to the others. Most of the taxa were described from northern and alpine locations in Europe and North America and are typical of habitats in the northern Rocky Mountains, with two notable exceptions. Surirella arctica had been reported previously only from locations in the High Arctic of North America, north of 68°N latitude. Gomphonema caperatum has a disjunct distribution in montane regions of the eastern and far western contiguous United States. This may be the first record of this taxon from Alaska.