title: Diversity and community ecology of forest epiphyte testate amoebae from European Russia.
abstract: Testate amoebae are an abundant group of microorganisms which make a significant contribution to the diversity of protist life. Most of the world's potential habitats for testate amoebae have been barely studied and when such places are investigated they frequently reveal novel communities and species. Here we consider the testate amoeba communities associated with boreal forest epiphytes (mosses and lichens); an environment which we argue has been under-researched. We present a dataset of 165 samples from four regions of western Russia and analyse these data in relation to micro-habitat position and selected environmental data. The testate amoebae of epiphytes are abundant but dominated by ubiquitous species. We show that there are trends toward a lower species richness and test concentration with greater elevation on the trunk and in lichens compared to mosses. There are considerable differences in community composition between sampling regions. Of all measured environmental variables only moisture content showed a significant relationship with testate amoeba community structure. Our data highlight how little is known about testate amoeba communities of this habitat and call for greater research efforts, particularly in less-studied regions and biomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Ecology, Penza State University, Krasnaya str. 40, 440026, Penza, Russia; Environment Department, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom. Electronic address: richard.payne@york.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Payne
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Ecology, Penza State University, Krasnaya str. 40, 440026, Penza, Russia.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Belyakova
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Ecology, Penza State University, Krasnaya str. 40, 440026, Penza, Russia.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mazei
mesh_terms: D000656:Amoeba / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D044002:Bryophyta / Q000469:parasitology; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D008011:Lichens / Q000469:parasitology; D012426:Russia
keywords: Arcelllinida; Biodiversity; Boreal forest; Community ecology; Euglyphida