DILSTORE software for ecological status assessment of lakes based on benthic diatoms

Until recently, only few diatom indices were developed for monitoring littoral zones of lakes. The available indices are not applicable for all lake types because species lists and environmental constraints' ranges are different. So far, four diatom indices (SCIL, TDIL, S, TI) were developed that use attached diatoms for ecological status assessment therefore a need arose to ease index calculation similarly as it is a wide spread practice in status assessment of rivers by means of the well known OMNIDIA software. DILSTORE 1.1 software has three main functions; (i) calculation of diatom indices and community attributes; (ii) storage and listing of primary diatom data series and (iii) it contains a taxon name coder and a spelling-check program. It can be used as a peripheral aid to generate data sheets for the OMNIDIA. The DILSTORE 1.1 software was developed for IBM PC compatible computers, for Windows users. According to the experiences, the DILSTORE 1.1 software can make the regular lake monitoring practice considerably faster.