Short-term effects of metal pollution were assessed by transferring periphytic diatom communities developed on artificial substrates from a reference site to a site polluted by heavy metals (around 15 microg Cd L(-1) and 800 microg Zn L(-1)), located in neighbouring streams. Metal sensitivity of mature assemblages (aged 1 month) was evaluated by studying changes in diatom density and taxonomic composition 2 and 4 weeks after the transfer. Resident communities of both sites were simultaneously collected on similar artificial substrates, in order to compare short-term effects of metals within transferred communities with long-term effects observed at the polluted site. Field transfer induced a marked shift of community structure towards that of the resident community of the polluted site: diatom density rapidly decreased after the transfer, from 35,000+/-4000 to 15,000+/-300 cells cm(-2) after 2 weeks, and taxonomic composition changed. Relative abundances of species characteristic of the reference site rapidly decreased, e.g. Nitzschia dissipata and Gomphoneis minuta, whereas species characteristic of the polluted site progressively increased within transferred communities, e.g. Gomphonema parvulum, Pinnularia sp. or Fragilaria crotonensis. The structure of periphytic diatom communities could therefore be an indicator of metal pollution, with marked taxonomic changes being identified within reference assemblages after only 2 weeks under relatively low metal exposure.