Composition and structure algal сommunity of the Сát Tiên National Park, Southern Vietnam (first data)

The report presents the results of a study of algae in forest soils in the Cat Tien National Park (South Vietnam) using 7 model sites as an example. The species composition of algae and their vertical distribution in the soil horizons have been characterized.

Epiphyton of oligotrophic lakes of Leningrad region

Here are results of investigation of taxonomic composition, community structure and dominant species of epiphytic algae in 12 oligotrophic lakes located in different geomorphic regions of Leningrad region. In summer epiphytic communities there were 385 algal taxa, they belonged to 6 taxonomic divisions: Cyanophyta (Cyanoprokaryota) – 50 (13%), Bacillaryophyta – 175 (45%), Chlorophyta – 37 (10%), Charophyta – 118 (30%), Xanthophyta – 4 (1,55%), Rhodophyta – 1 (0,45%). The taxonomic structure of each lake was predominant diatoms and desmids, but the biomass was dominated by zygnems and green algae. In total, the taxonomic composition of the epiphyton in the studied lakes is similar, the differences are revealed at the species level. The structure of dominanting epiphyton complex was rather constant and composed by a small number of species. The greatest contribution to the epiphyton was made by Tabellaria flocculosa and species of the genus Bulbochaete. The structure of the epiphyton reflects the undisturbed nature of lake ecosystems, as well as their northern location.

Euastrum (Zygnematophyceae) from Europea: diversity, ecology, distribution

Euastrum is one of the most important genus of desmids, have been selected as widely represented in the flora of the water bodies of Europe. The algal samples were collected from different localities of ten regions of European part of Russia. Cells of 50 species of Euastrum was examined in scanning electron microscope. Cell wall of the Euastrum have some specific pits, which are called scrobicles. Its size, shape and quantity vary from species to species. Out of more than 250 species Euastrum, described 73 taxa for which the preference for acidity of the environment, biotopic confinement, and distribution over Europe and other continents are known. The dictionary of the most used terms is given.

Morphology and molecular phylogeny of representatives of the genus Coelastrella Chodat from the Urals and Khentei mountain systems

Five strains of the genus Coelastrella were studied from the collections of live cultures of algae of the Institute of Biology, Syktyvkar, Russia (SYKOA Ch-045-09, SYKOA Ch-047-11, SYKOA Ch-072-17) and the Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Irkutsk, Russia (IRK-A 2, IRK-A 173). It was found that, despite their high morphological similarity, the strains have different phylogenetic relationships. The analysis of the 18S rDNA and ITS1-ITS2 showed that the studied strains belong to the species: C. terrestris (IRK-A 173), C. oocystiformis (SYKOA Ch-045-09; IRK-A 2) and C. aeroterrestrica (SYKOA Ch-047-11). The SYKOA Ch-072-17 strain is probably a new species for the genus. The results confirm the high phenotypic variability and hidden diversity among the representatives of this group of green algae.

Materials to cyanobacterial and algal flora from volcanic soils of Shiveluch volcano

During the species composition study of terrestrial cyanobacteria and algae from volcanic soils of Shiveluch Volcano (Kamchatka peninsula, Russia) eighteen taxa from five phyla were revealed: Cyanobacteria – 4, Bacillariophyta – 4, Ochrophyta – 2 (Eustigmatophyceae – 1, Xanthophyceae – 1), Charophyta – 1, Chlorophyta – 7 (Chlorophyceae – 2, Trebouxiophyceae – 5). Nitzschia communis Rabenhorst, Nitzschia palea (Kützing) W. Smith, Eolimna minima (Grunow) Lange-Bertalot, Eremochloris sp., Tetradesmus obliquus (Turpin) M.J. Wynne, Nostoc edaphicum Kondratyeva were most frequency.

The use of plastic details to increase the contact surface of the substrate during the cultivation of attached species of algae

A series of experiments was carried out using strips (and nets) of synthetic polymers to increase the contact surface during the cultivation of attached forms of microphytes. We used bands of different composition, as well as with different microrelief surface areas, and a fine-mesh PLA network with an inhomogeneous surface. The experiments were performed on liquid nutrient media in accumulative cultures, and on solid nutrient medium in pure culture. The results showed a number of positive features of such cultivation, based on the selective isolation of individual species and their small combinations from the composition of accumulative cultures, as well as on the effective growth of individual species on specific elements of the microrelief of polymer surfaces. The polymers used were: PET, PP, LDPE, UHMWPE and PLA.

The very first experience of biological analysis of water in Saint-Petersburg

The biological method of water quality analysis, for the first time, was applied in Russia during the examination of Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea by Wislouch S.M. Neva River was a source of drinking water in St. Petersburg and, at the same time, a discharge for all city drains. As a result, it became hazardous to health, being a source of various diseases, especially cholera. From August 1911 to September 1912 pollution studies of the Bay were made to solve the question - where to send the treated waste water of the future sewage system of St. Petersburg. In total, 37 trips were made during this time, 510 samples were taken, including 375 plankton samples and 35 benthic samples. Wysłouch S. M. gave an overview of objects collected at 265 stations located in the area of Neva Bay - from estuary of Bolshaya Neva to Kronstadt, along the southern coast of the Bay and partially along the Northern coast. He brought a list of algae, including 97 species: Algae Cyanophyceae (writing all taxa retained on original source) – 17 species, Flagellata – 19 species, Peridineae – 1, One – 30, Conjugatae – 2, Diatomaceae – 28 species, Fungi (1), Bacteria (17), Protozoa (28), Rotatoria (17). Taking into account the algae and other organisms saprobity indices, areas with different degrees of contamination were identified. All the data was put on map of the Gulf. The most heavily polluted area was the Sea channel, and the area between the Lisij Nos and Kronstadt was the cleanest.

Phytoplankton of cold-water lake ecosystems under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors

Based on the study of the spatio-temporal aspects of the development of phytoplankton in the lakes of the North and North-West of the European territory of Russia (large lakes – Imandra, Onega and Chudsko-Pskovskoye and small lakes of the Arctic and Subarctic), the features of its structure and dynamics under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors (eutrophication, heavy metal pollution, acidification, thermification). The species composition and quantitative characteristics of phytoplankton of large lakes of the North of Russia, small arctic lakes and lakes of subarctic regions are studied. It has been shown that diatoms predominate in arctic water bodies according to species diversity, and green and diatoms predominate in boreal ones. By biomass, diatoms dominate mainly in all cold-water lakes, with the exception of small arctic lakes, where golden algae lead. The features of the reorganization of phytoplankton in response to the action of anthropogenic factors are revealed. It is proved that in the northern water bodies the complex action of heavy metals and nutrients does not lead to inhibition of phytoplankton, and the effect of acidification in combination with heavy metals enhances the toxic effect of the latter. A feature of the response to acidification is an increase in the variability of the dynamics of the biomass of phytoplankton. It has been shown that in different types of lakes of East Antarctica under severe climate conditions under light and biogenic limitation, redistribution of autotrophic components in the formation of the biota of water bodies occurs: against the background of a decrease in the abundance and diversity of phytoplankton, the role of microphytobenthos and periphyton increases.

Ecology and metabolic activity of cyanobacteria in large different types of lowland reservoirs in the European part of Russia

A comparative of the species composition and ecological-geographical characteristics of cyanobacteria plankton of 13 reservoirs of the Volga-Kama cascade and the Don (Sheksna, Ivankovo, Uglich, Rybinsk, Gorky, Cheboksary, Kuibyshev, Saratov, Volgograd, Kama, Votkinsk, Nizhnekamsk and Tsimlyansk reservoirs) is analysed. An assessment of the change in the distribution of cyanobacteria biomass in a latitudinal gradient along the Volga cascade is presented. The seasonal and long-term (1954–2016) dynamics of the abundance, biomass and the ratio of functional groups of cyanobacteria in the Rybinsk Reservoir, the second largest in the cascade of Volga reservoirs, are analyzed. A positive long-term trend of abundance and diversity of cyanobacteria and the leveling of their biomass between reservoirs along a cascade in recent years has been established. An increase in the abundance and diversity of nonheterocystous species was established in the direction from the Upper to the Lower Volga and during the long-term succession of phytoplankton of the Rybinsk Reservoir. This is associated with an increase of water mineralization. Based on current research in the 2010s of the Volga, Kama and Don cascade reservoirs, 14 variants of microcystin structures were identified, the diversity of which depended on the composition of the producing species. Using PCR analysis, the main producers of microcystins (Microcystis and Dolichospermum) were identified. Cyanobacteria Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi and/or Raphidiopsis mediterranea have been identified as possible producers of neurotoxic anatoxin-a in the Tsimlyansk Reservoir. It was shown that water temperature and nitrogen were the greatest importance for development of microcystin-producing species of cyanobacteria.

Diversity and nitrogen-fixing activity of cyanoprokaryotes in the sphagnum cover of swamps in northeast European Russia

New knowledge has been obtained about the diversity and functional characteristics of cyanoprokaryotes associated with sphagnum mosses in bog complexes of the boreal zone of the European North and the Subpolar Urals. 19 species of diazotrophic cyanoprokaryotes were identified. The quantitative characteristics of nitrogen-fixing cyanoprokaryotes in epiphytic groups of sphagnum mosses and their seasonal changes were studied. It was revealed that Nostoc paludosum, N. punctiforme, Microchaete tenera form the basis of the dominant complexes of cyanoprokaryotes, actively fixing nitrogen in the studied communities. It was shown that N2 fixation in communities of the same type in the studied geographic regions had similar values. For a floodplain bog in the taiga zone, seasonal measurements of N2 fixation and quantitative indicators of cyanoprokaryotes associated with the sphagnum mosses Sphagnum riparium and S. angustifolium were carried out. N2 fixation in the season was more dependent on temperature conditions. On average, from 1.2 to 12.3 thousand colonies of nitrogen-fixing cyanoprokaryotes were recorded per 1 cm2 of sphagnum moss sod. The maximum values of the rates of N2 fixation, measured by the method of acetylene reduction, were noted in the range of 0.55–3.59 mg C2H4 m–2h–1. The maximum values of seasonal N2 fixations were 3,5 g C2H4 m–2 for S. angustifolium and 4,6 g C2H4 m–2 for S. riparium.