In a literature search, the presence of Haematococcus in phytoplankton communities and its biogeography were investigated. Haematococcus, although showing a wide biogeographical distribution, has been rarely found in phytoplankton communities. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2016) 40: 427-438 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Haematococcus: a successful air-dispersed colonist in ephemeral waters is rarely found in phytoplankton communities 1, 2 2 3 Savvas GENITSARIS *, Natassa STEFANIDOU , Matina KATSIAPI , Elisabeth VARDAKA , 4 5 2 Konstantinos Ar. KORMAS , Ulrich SOMMER , Maria MOUSTAKA-GOUNI 1 Laboratoire d’Océanologie et Géosciences (LOG), Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, Wimereux, France 2 Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece 3 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Sindos, Greece 4 Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly, Nea Ionia, Greece 5 Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: In a literature search, the presence of Haematococcus in phytoplankton communities and its biogeography were investigated. Haematococcus, although showing a wide biogeographical distribution, has been rarely found in phytoplankton communities. Simultaneously, the colonization potential of air-dispersed Haematococcus in ephemeral waters and its interactions with coexisting phytoplankton taxa were examined by microscopy and molecular methods. Haematococcus was a successful colonist, appearing among the first taxa in the experimental containers. According to principal component analysis, Haematococcus growth rate was negatively correlated with the abundance and species richness of the other autotrophs. Furthermore, a negative correlation between Haematococcus and Chlamydomonas and a positive one between Haematococcus and Chlorella were found. Overall, Haematococcus appears to be an effective air-dispersed alga that can successfully colonize and
