Rediscovery of Chara canescens Loiseleur in Serbia

Chara canescens is the only charophyte performing parthenogenetic reproduction. Although most recently found populations consist solely of parthenogenetically reproducing females, bisexual populations exist as well, making the species a unique example of the sympatric occurrence of both reproductive modes. In Serbia, C. canescens was found only once for certain, near Prokuplje in 2005. The purpose of the present study is to report a reliable new finding of C. canescens in Serbia, in a stable parthenogenetic female population. Sampling was conducted on 7 July 2018 from the Plava Banja pond near the city of Kikinda. Results of water analyses revealed high concentrations of almost all measured parameters, but especially high levels of salinity and alkalinity markers. Very high concentrations of sulphates and chlorides in the Plava Banja pond pointed to extreme ion anomalies. On the basis of the concentration of nutrients in it, the Plava Banja pond can be characterised as a eutrophic water body. Chara specimens collected from this pond were identified as C. canescens, and only females in the reproductive phase were detected. The environmental features of this habitat are typical in relation to preferences of the given species for light and salinity (ion concentration). This record is of great importance because C. canescens has been declared to be probably extinct in the wild in Serbia