Swindles Graeme T, Lamentowicz Mariusz, Reczuga Monika, Galloway Jennifer M
School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Monitoring, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University, Dzięgielowa 27, 61-680 Poznań, Poland; Department of Biogeography and Palaeoecology, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University, Dzięgielowa 27, 61-680 Poznań, Poland.
Eur J Protistol. 2016 Sep;55(Pt B):181-189. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2015.10.002. Epub 2015 Nov 10.
We present the first detailed analysis of subfossil testate amoebae from a tropical peatland. Testate amoebae were analysed in a 4-m peat core from western Amazonia (Peru) and a transfer function developed from the site was applied to reconstruct changes in water table over the past ca. 8,000 years. Testate amoebae were in very low abundance in the core, especially in the lower 125cm, due to a combination of poor preservation and obscuration by other organic matter. A modified preparation method enabled at least 50 testate amoebae to be counted in each core sample. The most abundant taxa preserved include Centropyxis aculeata, Hyalosphenia subflava, Phryganella acropodia and Trigonopyxis arcula. Centropyxis aculeata, an unambiguous wet indicator, is variably present and indicates several phases of near-surface water table. Our work shows that even degraded, low-abundance assemblages of testate amoebae can provide useful information regarding the long-term ecohydrological developmental history of tropical peatlands.
我们展示了对来自热带泥炭地的亚化石有壳变形虫的首次详细分析。对来自亚马孙河西部（秘鲁）一个4米深的泥炭岩芯中的有壳变形虫进行了分析，并应用从该地点开发的转换函数来重建过去约8000年地下水位的变化。由于保存不佳以及被其他有机物遮盖，岩芯中有壳变形虫的丰度非常低，尤其是在下部125厘米处。一种改良的制备方法使得每个岩芯样本中至少能计数50个有壳变形虫。保存下来的最丰富的分类群包括尖顶砂壳虫、亚黄透明囊变形虫、肢足藓阿米巴和圆三角砂壳虫。尖顶砂壳虫是一种明确的湿地指示生物，其存在情况不一，表明了近地表地下水位的几个阶段。我们的研究表明，即使是退化的、低丰度的有壳变形虫组合，也能提供有关热带泥炭地长期生态水文发育历史的有用信息。
