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Ecology of Testate Amoebae in an Amazonian Peatland and Development of a Transfer Function for Palaeohydrological Reconstruction

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Tropical peatlands represent globally important carbon sinks with a unique biodiversity and are currently threatened by climate change and human activities. It is now imperative that proxy methods are developed to understand the ecohydrological dynamics of these systems and for testing peatland development models. Testate amoebae have been used as environmental indicators in ecological and palaeoecological studies of peatlands, primarily in ombrotrophic Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in the mid- and high-latitudes. We present the first ecological analysis of testate amoebae in a tropical peatland, a nutrient-poor domed bog in western (Peruvian) Amazonia. Litter samples were collected from different hydrological microforms (hummock to pool) along a transect from the edge to the interior of the peatland. We recorded 47 taxa from 21 genera. The most common taxa are Cryptodifflugia oviformis, Euglypha rotunda type, Phryganella acropodia, Pseudodifflugia fulva type and Trinema lineare. One species found only in the southern hemisphere, Argynnia spicata, is present. Arcella spp., Centropyxis aculeata and Lesqueresia spiralis are indicators of pools containing standing water. Canonical correspondence analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling illustrate that water table depth is a significant control on the distribution of testate amoebae, similar to the results from mid- and high-latitude peatlands. A transfer function model for water table based on weighted averaging partial least-squares (WAPLS) regression is presented and performs well under cross-validation (r\(^{2}_{apparent} \,=\, 0.76, \text {RMSE} \,=\, 4.29; \mathrm {r}^{2}_{jack} \,=\, 0.68, \text {RMSEP} \,=\, 5.18\)). The transfer function was applied to a 1-m peat core, and sample-specific reconstruction errors were generated using bootstrapping. The reconstruction generally suggests near-surface water tables over the last 3,000 years, with a shift to drier conditions at c. cal. 1218-1273 AD.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by a Royal Society research grant to GTS (grant no. 481831). Radiocarbon dates were provided by the UK NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory allocation number 1681.1012 to DJC and AGS. We thank Outi L¨ahteenoja for advice on accessing the Aucayacu peatland and Ricardo Farroñay Peramas and Denis del Castillo Torres of the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazon´ıa Peruana in Iquitos for assisting with fieldwork planning. Aristidis Vasques is acknowledged for piloting the boats and helping us run the field campaign. Many thanks to the villagers of Bellavista and Malvinas for assistance in the field (especially Lucho Freyre and David Huayaban). Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) were taken in The Scanning Microscopy and Microanalysis Laboratory, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University. We kindly thank Monika Lutynska for technical support. Monika Reczuga would also like to thank Katarzyna Marcisz for assisting with the identification of testate amoebae.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Graeme T. Swindles, T. Edward Turner, Christopher Williams, Frederick Draper, Euridice N. Honorio Coronado, Katherine H. Roucoux & Tim Baker

  2. Department of Biogeography and Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Monitoring, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

    Monika Reczuga & Mariusz Lamentowicz

  3. Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

    Monika Reczuga

  4. Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Cassandra L. Raby

  5. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK

    Cassandra L. Raby

  6. Geography, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Dan J. Charman & Angela Gallego-Sala

  7. Putumayo Cdra. 24, Calle Garcia Calderon 246, Iquitos, Peru

    Elvis Valderrama

  8. School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Donal J. Mullan

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  1. Graeme T. Swindles
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  2. Monika Reczuga
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  3. Mariusz Lamentowicz
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  4. Cassandra L. Raby
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  11. Euridice N. Honorio Coronado
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  12. Katherine H. Roucoux
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Correspondence to Graeme T. Swindles.

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Swindles, G.T., Reczuga, M., Lamentowicz, M. et al. Ecology of Testate Amoebae in an Amazonian Peatland and Development of a Transfer Function for Palaeohydrological Reconstruction. Microb Ecol 68, 284–298 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0378-5

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