Testate amoebae: a review on their multiple uses as bioindicators

Abstract

Testate amoebae (TA) are unicellular protozoans enclosed in a test capable of indicating a wide variety of environmental conditions. Among others, characteristics such as short life cycle, great sensitivity and worldwide distribution makes them adequate bioindicators. As a complement to physical and chemical measurements, biomonitoring can be a cheaper and fastest way of environmental monitoring. This research sought to evaluate the extent of TA use in biomonitoring and the responses given by them to environmental features. The research was conducted in Scielo, Science Direct, Online Library, Google Scholar and Capes Journal Portal and yielded 211 papers. TA bioindication is able to provide information on metal, trace element and atmospheric pollution, and to point out different trophic states, pH, and evidence on characteristics of hydrology. Further, TA can be used in paleoenvironmental reconstruction as they reflect climate, volcanic and even sea level change phenomena. Sometimes, together with other organisms in environmental analysis, they have shown to be an important complement to biomonitoring. Additionally, a functional traits approach has been recently included as a promising tool. Methodological adjustments that have been conducted throughout the years are allowing TA use to be more reliable and precise. This review provides insight on the many possible functions of TA in bioindication studies, highlighting their wide use as bioindicators.

First records of testate amoebae from the town of Ugolnye Kopi, Chukotka (Russian Arctic)

“…Testate amoebae are a polyphyletic group of protists characterized by cosmopolitan distribution (Smith et al 2009) and are adapted to survive in a wide range of habitats from terrestrial to lacustrine and saltmarshes (Balik and Song 2000;Mitchell et al 2008a; Marcisz et al 2016). Testate amoebae are a good model for biogeographical research (Heger et al 2011) due to a good preservation of shells in the sediments (Mitchell et al 2008b) and high indicator potential of testate amoebae (Freitas et al 2022). This allows us to study the factors determining their distribution on a long-term scale across the globe.…”

A needle in a haystack: A new metabarcoding approach to survey diversity at the species level of Arcellinida (Amoebozoa: Tubulinea)

“…In terrestrial habitats, they are used in peatland restoration management (Carballeira & Pontevedra‐Pombal, 2021; Marcisz et al, 2016; Valentine et al, 2013), or to evaluate the impact of open‐cast coal mining on soil (Wanner & Dunger, 2001). There is thus an extensive scientific literature on the sensitivity of these organisms to different environmental perturbations (Freitas et al, 2022). In addition to their use as bioindicators, Arcellinida have also been proposed as a model group for studying microbial biogeography (Heger, Lara, & Mitchell, 2011; Singer et al, 2019; Smith & Wilkinson, 2007).…”

A needle in a haystack: a new metabarcoding approach to survey diversity at the species level of Arcellinida (Amoebozoa: Tubulinea)

“…In terrestrial habitats, they are used in peatland restoration management (Carballeira & Pontevedra-Pombal, 2021;Marcisz et al, 2016;Valentine et al, 2013), or to evaluate the impact of open-cast coal mining on soil (Wanner & Dunger, 2001). There is thus an extensive scientific literature on the sensitivity of these organisms to different environmental perturbations (Freitas et al, 2022). In addition to their use as bioindicator, Arcellinida have also been proposed as a model group for studying microbial biogeography Singer et al, 2019;Smith & Wilkinson, 2007) Recent studies involving the application of molecular protocols have provided new insights on both the diversity and taxonomy of Arcellinida.…”