Phytoplankton Community Structure in Artificial Salty Lake Near Kikinda City

Abstract

Aquatic inland ecosystems with increased water salinity have always been attractive because of the specific flora and fauna inhabiting them. Considering that, the phytoplankton community of the artificial saline lake near Kikinda city (Vojvodina province, Republic of Serbia) was investigated for the first time. A total of 27 detected algal taxa were classified in 5 divisions: Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta, Bacillariophyta and Chrysophyta. A few taxa characteristic for saline or brackish water, such as Oocystis submarina, Merismopedia warmingiana, Euglena proxima, have been found. Still, the majority of recorded ones could be characterized as halotolerant rather than halophilic. Low chlorophyll-a concentration (12.8 μg/l), low biomass (855.7 μg/l), but high cell abundance (20882 cell/ml) were recorded, which could be explained by a small-dimension algae dominance in the phytoplankton, as well as abundant submerged vegetation. Chroococcalean cyanobacteria contributed with 70% of the total cell abundance that could be the response to low nutrient conditions as well as the adaptation to more effective osmoregulation process essential for living in such environment. Green algae dominate in total phytoplankton biomass, followed by diatoms and blue-green algae.