Open AccessBiogeography and comparative ecology of testate amoebae inhabiting Sphagnum ‐dominated peatlands in the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions of North America
Author(s) -
Booth Robert K.,
Zygmunt Jennifer R.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
diversity and distributions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.918
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1472-4642
pISSN - 1366-9516
DOI - 10.1111/j.1366-9516.2005.00154.x
Subject(s) - testate amoebae , sphagnum , ecology , peat , ecological niche , biology , taxon , biogeography , trophic level , geography , habitat
Testate amoebae (Protozoa: Rhizopoda) are common inhabitants of peatlands. Strong relationships between community composition and substrate moisture in Sphagnum ‐dominated peatlands have made them particularly useful as hydrological proxies in environmental and palaeoenvironmental research. However, stability of these relationships in geographical space is important for widespread applicability. In this study, we compared testate amoeba communities inhabiting Sphagnum ‐dominated peatlands of the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions of North America. Our primary objectives were to describe patterns of community composition in the two regions, develop hypotheses to explain differences, and determine if taxa occupy similar ecological niches with respect to substrate moisture in both places. Our results indicated that testate amoeba communities are relatively different in the two regions, and these differences are probably caused by differences in climate and peatland trophic status, although other factors may also play a role. However, many taxa do occur in both regions and these taxa had comparable moisture preferences in each region, suggesting that the ecological niches of taxa with respect to substrate moisture are similar even within communities of relatively different composition.