Diversity of Cyanobacteria in the Zasavica river, Serbia

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are ancient organisms that are capable of colonizing different habitats in various climatic zones due to their plasticity and rapid accommodation. They are a widely studied group of microorganisms due to the presence of many potentially toxic and invasive species. The aim of this research was a diversity exploration of the freshwater Cyanobacteria in the Zasavica River, which is part of the Special Nature Reserve ?Zasavica? in Serbia. Organisms were sampled once a month at two study sites during one year. Phytoplankton and metaphyton analysis showed the presence of 50 freshwater cyanobacterial taxa, of which 12 are new taxa for Serbia. Three invasive and potentially toxic species (Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Sphaerospermopsis aphanizomenoides and Raphidiopsis mediterranea) were recorded only in metaphyton in April at one site. It can be expected that, if conditions change, this species can migrate and form phytoplankton blooms. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. ON 176020]

Diversity and ecology of benthic algae in Karagöl Lake, Karagöl–SaharaNational Park (Şavşat, Artvin, Turkey)

“…As reported by Predojevic et al (2015), members of the Euglenozoa are unicellular, cosmopolitan, and very common. They are most frequently found in slow-flowing and stagnant water that is rich with organic substances during the summer months when the water temperature is raised and the light levels are high.…”

Algae in Shallow and Small Water Bodies of Serbia: A Frame for Species and Habitat Protection

“…Only at some localities, usually during the summer months, the abundance and richness of representatives of the Cryptophyta and Euglenophyta were very significant, which is a good indication of organic pollution [29]. After the proclamation, SNR "Zasavica" became an interesting area for biodiversity research, so more detailed algological studies continued [30][31][32], and new species for this reserve, but also for Serbia, were recorded [32][33][34][35]. For example, during the detailed investigation in 2012 and 2013, a total of 442 microalgae taxa were registered in the phytoplankton and metaphyton communities.…”

“…Within the wellresearched euglenoid algae in Serbia [36], 89 representatives of this group with 9 new taxa for the Serbian flora were recorded in the Zasavica (e. g. Lepocinclis acicularis Francè, Phacus monilatus (A.Stokes) Lemmerman (Fig. 8.3c, d)) [34], while within the Cyanobacteria among a total of 50 detected taxa, 12 of them were registered for the first time in Serbia [35].…”

“…Those are Raphidiopsis mediterranea, R. raciborskii, and S. aphanizomenoides (Fig. 8.4), species that increased their distribution in Serbia in the last two decades, especially in SSWB [20,35,38]. Additional research of phytoplankton and metaphyton of this SSWB was conducted during the spring and summer months of 2018 and 2019, when additional 112 new taxa for the algal flora of the Zasavica were recorded, mostly from euglenoid and green algae (40 and 35, respectively) [39].…”

“…That may indicate that this ecosystem with high taxa richness potentially withstood the impact of invasive planktonic algae. Including the taxa recorded during 1995 and 1996 [29], whose presence was not confirmed by late analyses [32,[33][34][35]39], the total number of microalgae taxa in phytoplankton and metaphyton Zasavica detected so far is 605.…”