diversity of thermophilic cyanobacteria in maragheh mineral springs andvariable environmental factors

Cyanobacteria or blue-green algae arephotosynthetic microorganisms, found inseveral habitats. hot springs are consideredas extreme habitats with “sub-cosmopolitan”geographical distribution, the biodiversityof which is unique due to their specialconditions. over the last century, these naturalinhabitants have attracted the attention ofbiologists and tourists. in the present study,cyanobacteria were collected and identifiedfrom five hot and mineral springs locatedin east azarbaijan province, maragheh cityduring 2019. in this regard, the spring waterwas analyzed physic-chemically, the effectof some environmental parameters on algalcommunities was assessed, and the sampleswere fixed in 4% formaldehyde solution.based on the results, 30 species were detected,which the highest and least diversity ofcyanobacteria were respectively observedin isty bulakh (15 species) and ghare palchighspring. in addition, phormidium sp.possessed the maximum diversity among allof the identified taxa. finally, environmentalfactors such as total dissolved solids (tds)and turbidity were determined among thefactors affecting biodiversity.