300020 UE Microscopical course on freshwater algae (2022S)

The algae studied in this course are common freshwater species of lakes in Austria. The course gives a brief introduction into the main taxonomic groups of phytoplankton species, the quantitative analysis by Utermöhl technique and the evaluation of community structure according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Key-reference species of each taxonomic algal group will be studied by light-microscopy. Further we will determine the biovolume of phytoplankton of a lake sample from Alte Donau in Vienna (includes phytoplankton sampling at Alte Donau once) aimed at estimating phytoplankton biomass. These quantitative results describing the phytoplankton composition will be used to evaluate the community structure by statistical tools of the Water Framework Directive. Statistical methods for the validation of microscopical counts of algae and cyanobacteria and templates for the data assessment according to the WFD (both in Excel) are carried out step by step during the course. Instructions for the simple construction of counting chambers allowing a quantitative analysis are given.