PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - STIBAL, 
AU  - M., 
TI  - Ecological and physiological characteristics of snow algae from Czech and Slovak mountains
DP  - 2003 Mar 1
TA  - Czech Phycology
PG  - 141--152
VI  - 3
IP  - 1
IS  - 18025439
AB  - Algal communities growing in melting snow represent an interesting example of organisms living in extreme conditions. The aim of this work was to study ecological and physiological demands of algae from Czech and Slovak mountains´ snowfields in situ and in culture. During the seasons 2000-2002 algae were sampled, transferred to laboratory, examinated, determined and four strains were isolated - Chloromonas nivalis, Chlorella vulgaris, Stichococcus bacillaris and Xanthonema hormidioides. Crossed gradients of temperature and light were used to learn about their ecophysiological limitations. The species Chloromonas nivalis expectedly appeared to be psychrophilic while the other species turned out to be psychrotolerant with temperature optima higher than 20°C. Light optima were very similar for all the species. Two cyanobacterial species new for the Czech Republic were found - Romeria nivicola in the locality Luční hora and Aphanocapsa nivalis in the locality Plešné jezero.