Jun 10, 2014 - report on testate amoebae biomass in lake sediment along a latitudinal gradient. ...... Gaston KJ (2000) Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature ...
Microb Ecol (2014) 68:657–670 DOI 10.1007/s00248-014-0442-1
MICROBIOLOGY OF AQUATIC SYSTEMS
Diversity and Distribution of Freshwater Testate Amoebae (Protozoa) Along Latitudinal and Trophic Gradients in China Lihua Ju & Jun Yang & Lemian Liu & David M. Wilkinson
Received: 11 March 2014 / Accepted: 22 May 2014 / Published online: 10 June 2014 # The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract Freshwater microbial diversity is subject to multiple stressors in the Anthropocene epoch. However, the effects of climate changes and human activities on freshwater protozoa remain poorly understood. In this study, the diversity and distribution of testate amoebae from the surface sediments were investigated in 51 Chinese lakes and reservoirs along two gradients, latitude and trophic status. A total of 169 taxa belonging to 24 genera were identified, and the most diverse and dominant genera were Difflugia (78 taxa), Centropyxis (26 taxa) and Arcella (12 taxa). Our analysis revealed that biomass of testate amoebae decreased significantly along the latitudinal gradient, while Shannon-Wiener indices and species richness presented an opposite trend (P
