Along the ecocline: physiological responses of Baltic Sea and coastal peatland benthic diatoms to abiotic variables

This dissertation focused on the ecophysiological responses of unialgal diatom isolates from the microphytobenthos in the shallow southern Baltic Sea and adjacent coastal peatlands to the fundamental variables salinity, temperature, and light availability in their respective habitats, as well as the influence of potential mixing of waterbodies of the two ecosystems on growth rates and photosynthetic performance of the benthic diatoms. Results within three publications showed eurythermal and euryhaline growth, a high photo-physiological plasticity and stimulated growth by peatland water