A Methods Manual for the Collection, Preparation and Analysis of ...

photomicrographs earned high praise for the first six parts of this Flora. Unfortunately, thethorough treatment of each species was considered to be excessively costly and timeconsuming, resulting in the Flora being discontinued.After the curtailment of the Flora there was a shift in the direction of diatom studies at theNIWR, and two lines of research were followed. The first of these adopted a purelytaxonomic direction of study in which selected species were individually examined andthoroughly revised in the light of both type material and local material. Special attention wasfocussed on the genus Amphora, but other species in other genera were treated when and ifmaterial became available. The second line of research returned more to the style ofinvestigation used by Cholnoky in his surveys from different regions but incorporated the newdevelopments in electron microscopy and photomicroscopy.At the end of 1986 Dr Schoeman left the NIWR, bringing to an end a fruitful partnership, inwhich he was the co-architect of so much that was achieved for over a decade. Continuing onthe foundation laid by Cholnoky, the NIWR group had developed into the largest diatomresearch centre in the Southern Hemisphere at that time. Details of this collection have beendiscussed in Harding et al. (2004).The third and fourth period of diatom research at the NIWR(CSIR) saw the strength of humanresources engaged in diatom work rise from one to four full-time researchers as well asseveral for whom diatoms were a secondary interest, then decline again to one person, ArchieArchibald, occupied full time with the help of an assistant. Following the untimely death ofDr Archibald in December, 1999 meaningful diatom research ceased at the CSIR. The Diatomcollection was subsequently transferred to the CSIR in Durban under the care of ColinArchibald before his retirement in 2002.The fifth or current period of diatom research in South Africa includes research undertakenunder the leadership Prof Guy Bate (University of Port Elizabeth now Nelson MandelaMetropolitan University) which commenced with a study of diatoms in South Africa in thelate 1990’s. The research focussed on the ecological aspects of diatom assemblages fordetermining water quality and attempted to apply a descriptive European diatom index forSouth African conditions (Bate et al, 2002). This research continued with the publication of aWater Research Commission report relating freshwater, brackish and estuarine species to keywater quality variables (Bate et al., 2004).Also during this same period Dr Bill Harding commenced with an evaluation of the ex NIWR(now CSIR-Environmentek) diatom collection, as well as initiating further diatom studies byproducing a set of protocols (of which this volume forms a part) by which diatom samples canbe collected, prepared and the species in the samples identified – and by the use of whichdiatoms can form a valuable component of biomonitoring in South Africa. Diatom studieshave also been undertaken in the last five years at the North-West University (Potchefstroom2