Response of Sphagnum Testate Amoebae to Drainage, Subsequent Re-wetting and Associated Changes in the Moss Carpet – Results from a Three Year Mesocosm Experiment

• Authors: Isabelle Koenig , Florence Schwendener , Matthieu Mulot , Edward A. D. Mitchell

Abstracts

EN

Sphagnum peatlands represent a globally significant pool and sink of carbon but these functions are threatened by ongoing climate change. Testate amoebae are useful bioindicators of hydrological changes, but little experimental work has been done on the impact of water table changes on communities. Using a mesocosm experimental setting that was previously used to assess the impact of drought disturbance on communities and ecosystem processes with three contrasted water table positions: wet (–4 cm), intermediate (–15 cm) and dry (–25 cm), we studied the capacity of testate amoeba communities to recover when the water table was kept at –10 cm for all plots. The overall experiment lasted three years. We assessed the taxonomic and functional trait responses of testate amoeba communities. The selected traits were hypothesised to be correlated to moisture content (response traits: shell size, aperture position) or trophic role (effect traits: mixotrophy, aperture size controlling prey range). During the disturbance phase, the mixotrophic species Hyalosphenia papilio dominated the wet and intermediate plots, while the community shifted to a dominance of “dry indicators” (Corythion dubium, Nebela tincta, Cryptodifflugia oviformis) and corresponding traits (loss of mixotrophy, and dominance of smaller taxa with ventral or ventral-central aperture) in dry plots. During the recovery phase we observed two contrasted trends in the previously wet and intermediate plots: communities remained similar where the Sphagnum carpet remained intact but species and traits indicators of drier conditions increased in plots where it had degraded. In the former dry plots, indicators and traits of wet conditions increased by the end of the experiment. This is one of the first experiment simulating a disturbance and subsequent recovery in ex-situ mesocosms of Sphagnum peatland focusing on the response of testate amoebae community structure as well as functional traits to water table manipulation. The results generally confirmed that testate amoebae respond within a few months to hydrological changes and thus represent useful bioindicators for assessing current and past hydrological changes in Sphagnum peatlands.  

Keywords

EN

Mesocosm experiment; Testate amoebae; Functional traits; Recovery; Disturbance; Sphagnum peatlands; bio-indicators; water table depth

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
• Journal: Acta Protozoologica
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 191-210

Dates

published

2017

Contributors

author

Isabelle Koenig

• Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

author

Florence Schwendener

• Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

author

Matthieu Mulot

• Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
• Station biologique, Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin, Evolution des Protistes et Ecosystèmes Pélagiques, Roscoff, France

author

Edward A. D. Mitchell

• Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
• Jardin Botanique de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

• https://orcid.org/000000030358506X

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Identifiers

DOI

10.4467/16890027AP.17.017.7498

Biblioteka Nauki

52397249