Testate amoebae as a hydrological proxy for reconstructing water-table depth in the mires of south-eastern Australia

Zheng, Xuemei; Amesbury, Matthew J.; Hope, Geoffrey; Martin, Len; Mooney, Scott

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.09.019

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Most of the work on peatland testate amoebae has been undertaken on Northern Hemisphere Sphagnum bogs Booth and Zygmunt, 2005;Charman et al, 2004;Gałka et al, 2017;Lamentowicz et al, 2008;Mitchell et al, 1999;Swindles et al, 2010). In contrast, testate amoebae remain less studied in the Southern Hemisphere, apart from New Zealand (Charman, 1997;Wilmshurst et al, 2002;Wilmshurst et al, 2003), but recent work is now emerging from Australia (Bamforth, 2015;Meisterfeld et al, 2008;Zheng et al, 2019), South America (Fernández et al, 2016;Fernández et al, 2015;Van Bellen et al, 2014) and Antarctica (Charman et al, 2018;Stelling et al, 2018). The study of testate amoebae from New Zealand started in the early 20th century with the analysis of samples of the 1907-9 British Antarctic Expedition led by Shackelton sent by James Murray to Eugène Penard (Penard, 1911).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

McKeown

Wilmshurst

Duckert

et al. 2019

European Journal of Protistology

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Methodological advances are essential for robust ecological research. Quantitative reconstructions of environmental conditions using testate amoebae rely on sound taxonomy. While the taxonomy of large species is relatively well resolved, this is not the case for most small taxa (typically <45 m long). In New Zealand, peatlands contain a diversity of both cosmopolitan and characteristic large southern endemic taxa, but also have a high abundance of small taxa. The latter are often lumped into morphotypes reducing their value as ecological indicators. In this study, we demonstrate how (a) lumping small taxa versus splitting them into unique types, and (b) including or excluding them from community analysis influenced their ecological inference. We assessed testate amoeba composition in six peat bogs from New Zealand, three that were moderately-to-highly impacted, and three that were non-impacted. Environmental variables were measured at each sampling site and the surface testate amoeba community patterns and community-environment relationships compared. We found a clear division between impacted and non-impacted sites. Several distinct small taxa were more strongly related to water-table depth and conductivity, while the larger taxa were more correlated to pH. These results show that improved taxonomic resolution of small taxa can provide more informed environmental assessment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

McKeown

Wilmshurst

Duckert

et al. 2019

European Journal of Protistology

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“…Testate amoebae are widely used in bioindication ( Payne 2007 ) of water table depth and surface moisture in mires ( Zheng et al 2019 , Krashevska et al 2020 , Swindles et al 2020 , Qin et al 2021b , Šímová et al 2022 ), organic matter content ( Laggoun‐Défarge et al 2007 , Escobar et al 2008 , Daza et al 2020 ), macronutrients ( Wilkinson and Mitchell 2010 , Patterson et al 2012a ), acidity ( Payne 2009 , Lamentowicz et al 2011 , Patterson et al 2012b , Siver et al 2020 , Sim et al 2021 ), metal ions concentration ( Nguyen-Viet et al 2006 , Asada and Warner 2009 , Cockburn et al 2020 ) in aquatic environments, ecosystem restoration ( Carballeira and Pontevedra-Pombal 2021 , Qin et al 2021a , Evans et al 2023 , Creevy et al 2023 ) etc. Testate amoebae are successfully applied in quantitative reconstructions of hydrological regimes ( Lamentowicz et al 2017 , Tsyganov et al 2017 , Swindles et al 2019 , Zhang et al 2022 ), serving as a valuable proxy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity of testate amoebae in Sphagnum bogs: the dataset from forest-steppe ecotone (Middle Volga Territory, Russia)

Saldaeva,

Babeshko,

Chernyshov

et al. 2024

BDJ

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Testate amoebae are a polyphyletic group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms that are characterised by a rigid shell and inhabit mostly freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. They are particularly abundant in peatlands, especially in Sphagnum-dominated biotopes. Peatland hydrology is the most important influence on testate amoebae communities. The good preservation of the shells in peat deposits and their response to hydrological regime changes are the principles for palaeohydrological reconstructions. Any changes in the water balance of mires should be expected to have far-reaching effects on biogeochemical cycles, productivity, carbon dioxide and methane exchange. This paper presents a dataset (Darwin Core Archive – DwC-A) on the distribution of Sphagnum-dwelling testate amoebae in nine mires located in the forest-steppe subzone of the East European Plane. The dataset includes information about 86 taxa belonging to 29 genera and contains 3,123 occurrences of 49,874 individuals. The following environmental variables are provided: microtopography, oxidising and reducing potential, total mineralisation, substrate temperature, acidity, substrate wetness and water table depth. These data might be used for biogeographical and palaeoecological studies, including quantitative reconstructions.

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Ecohydrogeology: The interdisciplinary convergence needed to improve the study and stewardship of springs and other groundwater-dependent habitats, biota, and ecosystems

Cantonati

Stevens

Segadelli

et al. 2020

Ecological Indicators

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Testate amoebae as a hydrological proxy for reconstructing water-table depth in the mires of south-eastern Australia

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

Biodiversity of testate amoebae in Sphagnum bogs: the dataset from forest-steppe ecotone (Middle Volga Territory, Russia)

Ecohydrogeology: The interdisciplinary convergence needed to improve the study and stewardship of springs and other groundwater-dependent habitats, biota, and ecosystems

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Testate amoebae as a hydrological proxy for reconstructing water-table depth in the mires of south-eastern Australia

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

Biodiversity of testate amoebae in Sphagnum bogs: the dataset from forest-steppe ecotone (Middle Volga Territory, Russia)

Ecohydrogeology: The interdisciplinary convergence needed to improve the study and stewardship of springs and other groundwater-dependent habitats, biota, and ecosystems

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Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands

Assessing the ecological value of small testate amoebae (<45 μm) in New Zealand peatlands