Biodiversity of mycoplankton in the profile of eutrophic lakes with varying water quality

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the species diversity of mycoplankton in the profiles of eutrophic lakes with different abundance of indicator microorganisms and aerobic conditions, and to check whether there are species of mycoplankton characteristic for particular layers of the studied limnic ecosystems. It has been shown that the epilimnion and metalimnion of the studied lakes are characterized by the highest abundance of mycoplankton, while the highest species diversity of these microorganisms, expressed with the Shannon-Wiener index, occurred in the epilimnion and hypolimnion. The most important factors determining the species composition and abundance of mycoplankton in eutrophic lakes are: concentration of organic matter and oxygen dissolved in the water as well as electrolytic conductivity of the water. Candida argentea had the highest stability index in lakes where the metalimnion was characterized by well oxygenated water, whereas in lakes which were characterized by a lack of oxygen in the metalimnion, the predominant species was Candida albicans . This species seems to be a very good microbiological indicator of water quality, due to its interactions with indicator bacteria, in particular Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli . • The highest abundance of mycobiota was in epi- and metalimnion of eutrophic lakes. • The highest species diversity of mycobiota was in the epi- and hypolimnion. • The species diversity of fungi were dependent on the quality of eutrophic waters. • C. argentea dominated in lakes with good oxygen conditions in the metalimnion. • C. albicans dominated in lakes with the anaerobic metalimnion.