Eastern Canada Diatom Index (IDEC)

This layer shows the location of the sampled stations classified according to the Eastern Canada Diatom Index (IDEC). It contains data obtained since 1935 that was converted to version 3 of the index (Lavoie et al. 2014). Benthic diatoms are microscopic unicellular algae that line the bottom of streams and lakes. Some species are more sensitive to pollution than others. Therefore, the species composition of benthic diatom communities, through the relative abundance of each species present, offers information about the environmental conditions that prevail in a river.This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).