TESTATE AMOEBAE IN SPHAGNUM BOGS
(ON THE DATA OF NATURAL RESERVE «THE VOLGA REGION FOREST-STEPPE») 

Mazei Yuri Alexandrovich, Doctor of biological sciences, professor, sub-department of zoology and ecology,
Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), yurimazei@mail.ru
Tsyganov Andrey Nikolaevich, Candidate of biological sciences, associate professor, sub-department of zoology and ecology, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), andrey.tsyganov@bk.ru
Mityaeva Ol'ga Aleksandrovna, Candidate of biological sciences, associate professor, sub-department of ecology, International Independent Ecological- Political University (33a Kalinina street, Penza, Russia), olgabubnova@mail.ru
Babeshko Kirill Vladimirovich, Postgraduate student, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), fytark@yandex.ru 

593.11 

Background. Testate amoebae are abundant and diverse in moss biotopes and contribute up to 50 % of the total microbial biomass. The purpose of the study was to summarize the data on testate amoebae communities in two Sphagnum bogs: Svetloye Lake and peatland Kuncherovo.
Materials and methods. In Lake Svetloye the samples were taken at six stations: 1) Sphagnum submerged into water on the border between the forest and the lake; 2) transitory bog with generated reedgrass tussocks; 3) mid of the flat Sphagnum quagmire; 4) edge of Sphagnum quagmire; 5) lake sediments; 6) small area of Sphagnum quagmire with birch forest. In Kuncherovo peatland the samples were taken at four stations: 1) in the mid of Sphagnum magellanicum lawn; 2) in the mid of Sphagnum angustifolium lawn; 3) on the edge of quagmire, Sphagnum squarrosum habitat; 4) fen with reedgrass tussocks.
Results. Testate amoebae community in a young peatland is characterized by its peculiar species composition with predominance of such widespread species as (Assulina muscorum, Arcella arenaria, Phryganella hemisphaerica, and Euglypha laevis) and by the absence of common sphagnobionts from such genera as Nebela, Hyalosphenia, and Heleopera. Vertical heterogeneity of the community structure is weakly manifested as dominant species are abundant in all horizons. Several levels of the community differentiation were determined within Lake Svetloe. The following types of amoeba communities were described within the whole lake: the detritus community, the forest community, and the sphagnum quagmire community. The forest community, the community of open sphagnum quagmire, and the forested quagmire community were distinguished in the sphagnum biotopes. The small-scale horizontal and vertical differentiation was peculiar of the open sphagnum quagmire.
Conclusions. Patterns of spatial distribution of testate amoebae in Sphagnum are affected by the age of boggy ecosystem. The key species are absent in a peatland at the initial state of its transformation into a bog. They are likely to characterize the upper layers (Hyalosphenia papilio and Heleopera sphagni), both of which are mixotrophic and, probably, they play a crucial role in shaping all microbial community in «mature» boggy ecosystems. 

testate amoebae, sphagnum bogs, forest-steppe zone. 

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