The ecology of freshwater dinoflagellates

Abstract

Dinoflagellates have complex life cycles that include haploid vegetative cells, diploid sexual stages and different cyst stages (Fig. 6). In seasonally variable environments, phases of rapid asexual cell proliferation are typically restricted to nutrient‐replete, physically favorable conditions. When conditions become limiting for growth, e. g. due the depletion of nutrients or unfavorable temperatures, many dinoflagellate species produce temporary or dormant survival stages (Grigorszky et al. 2006).