The aim of this study was to use pigments to determine freshwater phytoplankton composition . The samples were collected from freshwater lakes in the Czech Republic and Germany. The pigment analyses were conducted using the High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The HPLC data were processed by computer program CHEMTAX to calculate the composition of phytoplankton. The obtained pigment data were compared with standard light microscopy which was used to obtain more detailed taxonomic resolution.

Artificial ponds are excellent for the study of phytoplankton ecology. They permit repeatable initial conditions and sufficient replication of independent experimental units in complex experiments to test hypotheses about the control of structure and function in natural communities. There were 20 experimental ponds constructed in Kokoř nsko Protected Landscape Area, from which samples were taken and analyzed. This study was part of the EU BIOPOOL. During the first two years after the filling of the ponds the colonization and the seasonal development of phytoplankton communities in the ponds were examined. The phytoplankton species composition was determined, then species richness and relative abundance of individual taxa were quantified. Species composition data were compared with the environmental parameters measured (temperature, oxygen concentration, pH, transparency, conductivity, depth, chlorophyll-a concentration, and zooplankton). In the spring 2007, the ponds were periodic, and followed a similar trend over time (February- April). There were dominated by the following taxonomic groups: Dinophyta, Chrysophyta, Cryptophyta, and Euglenophyta. After installing foil on the bottom of the ponds, the ponds were of permanent character. In terms of environmental parameters, the individual ponds...