Galanthus number of species are on the IUCN Red List of threatened species, with the conservation status being "G. trojanus" as critically endangered, four species vulnerable, "G. nivalis" is near threatened and several species show decreasing populations. "G. panjutinii" is considered endangered. One of its five known sites, at Sochi, was destroyed by preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics. "Galanthus" species and cultivars are extremely popular as symbols of spring and are traded more than any other wild-source ornamental bulb genus. Millions of bulbs are exported annually from Turkey and Georgia. For instance export quotas for 2016 for "G. elwesii" are
Chlamydomonas nivalis optimal position in the snow for moisture content, light, and temperature. When in the immotile cyst stage, the "C. nivalis" cells must depend on the flow of meltwater to move it by chance to a favourable area. The temperatures in which this species can survive in ranges from below 0 °C to just above 20 °C. Growth is slow when temperatures are below 5 °C. At 5-15 °C the growth of "C. nivalis" cells can outperform the growth of C. reinhardtii cells. Both species grow at the same rate at 20-25 °C. The growth of "C. nivalis" is suppressed when