Phytoplankton communities at different depths and at different locations within each lake were studied during the period of ice cover (from January to March) in two eutrophic and two oligotrophic lakes in North-Eastern Sweden. Cryptophyceae, Dinophyceae and Euglenophyceae were dominant during the whole period of investigation in eutrophic environments. Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Chrysophyceae and Cyanophyceae were only occasionally found both in eutrophic and oligotrophic lakes. Both in eutrophic and oligotrophic lakes diversity as well as abundance of phytoplankton were considerably higher immediately under ice than near the bottom. No differences in horizontal distribution of phytoplankton assemblages were detected within each lake. However, vertical differences were more profound. It is speculated that both light availability and increased ion concentration under the ice cover can be viewed as main factors determining phytoplankton communities.