The effect of a massive bloom of filamentous algae on the long-term abundance dynamics of the moss Warnstorfia exannulata (B., S. & G.) Loeske was studied in an acidic lowproductivity lake in NW Poland. Individuals were counted on 4 experimental plots, 1 × 1 m each, at a depth of 2.5 m. The studies were conducted for 36 months, every 30 days, by SCUBA diving. Over the three years the seasonal changes in water pH, conductivity, HCO₃⁻ concentration, sediment hydration and pH were not statistically significant (P> 0.05), and light intensity was higher in winter than in summer. Over the three years 4 consecutive stages of population development were observed: regeneration, stabilisation of abundance (fluctuations), regression and repeated regeneration. These stages appeared and lasted at different temperatures and light intensity. The greatest monthly increase in abundance took place in summer and lasted until the beginning of autumn under conditions of high temperature and relatively low light intensity. Long-term abundance variations were strongly correlated with the appearance of filamentous algae, less strongly with the dynamics of the dominant species (Sphagnum denticulatum), and the least with water temperature, light intensity, water and sediment pH, conductivity and HCO₃⁻ concentration. As a result of a massive bloom of these algae, light intensity decreased in the water, Warnstorfia shed its leaves, and then the entire population disappeared. In winter that year it began to regenerate from vegetative propagules (leafless shoots), which were the remains of individuals growing before the filamentous algae appeared. In softwater lakes such massive algal blooms are a common phenomenon which limits light transmission to the substrate and as a result leads to changes in the submerged vegetation structure, especially that of bryophytes.
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