DIVERSITY OF DIATOMS (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) IN THE SOIL UNDER TRADITIONAL TILLAGE AND REDUCED TILLAGE

Abstract. Research on soil diatoms has been conducted in Podkarpacie voivodeship in Dą-browa village ( 50°03’31″N 21°48’35″E) in the Subcarpathian Province in SE Poland. On the same soil type, i.e. silty clay loam (sand 0–23%, silt>40, clay 36–50%), two tillage systems were applied under maize (Zea mays): traditional and reduced. The major aim of the research was to analyse diatom diversity depending on the applied tillage system under maize (Zea mays). In the soil samples it was identified 62 taxa of diatoms, including 38 under traditional tillage, and 50 under reduced tillage. Under traditional tillage the most frequent species were Stauroneis thermicola, Mayamaea cf. atomus var. permitis, Nitzschia palea, and Pinnularia obscura. Under reduced tillage, Amphora montana was the most abundant. The dominant diatoms are characteristic of water reservoirs but are regulary found also on wet or moist sites