Interlaboratory Proficiency Test 14/2020. Phytoplankton

Abstract

Proftest SYKE organized in 2020 the sixth virtual phytoplankton proficiency test based on filmed and preserved material. A total of 38 persons from 33 organizations and ten countries took part in the test. The test material represented phytoplankton typically occuring in boreal lakes and in the Baltic Sea. The test consisted of three parts: 1) identification of lake and/or Baltic Sea taxa, 2) phytoplankton counting and 3) measurement of cell dimensions.

Most of the participants demonstrated satisfactory phytoplankton identification skills and proficiency to perform phytoplankton counts and measurements. Both in the lake and the Baltic Sea phytoplankton identification tests 86 % of the participants reached a satisfactory result. All participants performed the counting test successfully and 95 % of the participants performed the cell measurement test successfully.