Diplosphaera chodatii

is one of the most common species of photobionts which can be encountered in free-living state. Molecular data reveal its presence in sand and on rocks (Mikhailyuk et al. 2018a), on tree bark and freshwater habitats (Pröschold & Darienko 2020). Morphologically, it has been reported from a variety of environments and substrates. Indeed, it can be found both in deserts (Vinogradova et al. 2004; Büdel et al. 2009), representing the only Stichococcus - related species that occurs in this habitat (Hodač et al. 2016), and in environments that are mostly covered by snow and ice (Elster et al. 1999; Borchhardt et al. 2017; Ilchibaeva et al. 2018). It also survives in soils significantly altered by anthropogenic activities (Lukešová & Hoffmann 1996; Lukešová 2001; Neustupa & Škaloud 2005; Škaloud et al. 2008a) and sometimes even belongs to the most abundant species in such places (Sommer et al. 2020). It does not even mind the air of big cities (Freystein et al. 2008) and inhabits facades (Hofbauer 2007; Hofbauer & Gärtner 2021) as well as sand dunes (Schulz et al. 2016). It grows on a variety of substrates: soil (Zimonina 1998; Neustupa 2001; Škaloud et al. 2008b), tree bark (Johansen et al. 2007; Štifterová & Neustupa 2017), moss (Škaloud 2009) and rocks and caves (Vinogradova & Mikhailyuk 2009; Vinogradova et al. 2009). In some localities, it is a very abundant species (Elster et al. 1999; Mikhailyuk et al. 2003; Samolov et al. 2020).