Palaeoecology of testate amoebae in a tropical peatland.
Eur J Protistol
; 55(Pt B): 181-189, 2016 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26727235
ABSTRACT
We present the first detailed analysis of subfossil testate amoebae from a tropical peatland. Testate amoebae were analysed in a 4-m peat core from western Amazonia (Peru) and a transfer function developed from the site was applied to reconstruct changes in water table over the past ca. 8,000 years. Testate amoebae were in very low abundance in the core, especially in the lower 125cm, due to a combination of poor preservation and obscuration by other organic matter. A modified preparation method enabled at least 50 testate amoebae to be counted in each core sample. The most abundant taxa preserved include Centropyxis aculeata, Hyalosphenia subflava, Phryganella acropodia and Trigonopyxis arcula. Centropyxis aculeata, an unambiguous wet indicator, is variably present and indicates several phases of near-surface water table. Our work shows that even degraded, low-abundance assemblages of testate amoebae can provide useful information regarding the long-term ecohydrological developmental history of tropical peatlands.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Solo
/
Ecologia
/
Amoeba
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Peru
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Protistol
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article