Co-Occurrence of Ciliates and Rotifers in Peat Mosses 535

The aim of this study was to examine relations between the density and species richness of ciliates and rotifers in 6 peatlands (2 raised bogs, 2 poor fens, 1 typical fen, and 1 base-rich fen), in Polesie National Park in southeastern Poland. Their relations with selected chemical parameters were also analyzed. The peatlands differed in pH, conductivity, total phosphorus, nitrates, and total organic carbon concentrations. The study showed that the microbial communities are most strongly dependent on concentrations of total organic carbon, nitrates, phosphates, and total phosphorus. It seems that nutrients and total organic carbon have an indirect influence on the abundance of ciliates and rotifers, through the control of food abundance (mainly bacteria). Additionally, ciliates are most abundant in spring and autumn, when rotifers are infrequent. This suggests that rotifers, as competitors, could be the main regulators of ciliate abundance in surface water of peatlands.

[1]  S. Bridgham,et al.  Multiple limiting gradients in peatlands: A call for a new paradigm , 2009, Wetlands.

[2]  J. M. Schmid-Araya.  Rotifera Volume 1 Biology, Ecology and Systematics (2nd edn) , 2007 .

[3]  T. Mieczan.  Epiphytic Protozoa [testate amoebae and ciliates] associated with Sphagnum in peatbogs: relationship to chemical parameters , 2007 .

[4]  E. Mitchell,et al.  Microbial diversity in Sphagnum peatlands , 2006 .

[5]  T. Mieczan.  Periphytic ciliates in littoral zone of three lakes of different trophic status , 2005 .

[6]  A. Ellison,et al.  Diversity of rotifers from northeastern U.S.A. bogs with new species records for North America and New England , 2003, Hydrobiologia.

[7]  Song Biyu.  Planktonic protozooplankton (ciliates, heliozoans and testaceans) in two shallow mesotrophic lakes in China – a comparative study between a macrophyte-dominated lake (Biandantang) and an algal lake (Houhu) , 2000, Hydrobiologia.

[8]  R. Deneke.  Review of rotifers and crustaceans in highly acidic environments of pH values ≤3 , 2000, Hydrobiologia.

[9]  W. Foissner.  Terrestrial ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) from two islands (Gough, Marion) in the southern oceans, with description of two new species, Arcuospathidium cooperi and Oxytricha ottowi , 1996, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[10]  B. Pejler.  Relation to habitat in rotifers , 1995, Hydrobiologia.

[11]  I. Reche,et al.  Plankton dynamics in a high mountain lake (Las Yeguas, Sierra Nevada, Spain). Indirect evidence of ciliates as food source for zooplankton , 1994, Hydrobiologia.

[12]  W. Westheide,et al.  A quantitative method to extract moss-dwelling rotifers , 1993, Hydrobiologia.

[13]  C. Ricci.  Ecology of bdelloids: how to be successful , 1987, Hydrobiologia.

[14]  B. Pejler,et al.  Rotifer occurrence in relation to pH , 1987, Hydrobiologia.

[15]  A. Buttler,et al.  Structure of microbial communities in Sphagnum peatlands and effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment , 2003, Microbial Ecology.

[16]  B. Sonntag,et al.  Protozooplankton in the Deep Oligotrophic Traunsee (Austria) Influenced by Discharges of Soda and Salt Industries , 2002 .

[17]  K. Kalinowska.  Ciliates in small humic lakes (Masurian lakeland, Poland) : relationship to acidity and trophic parameters , 2000 .

[18]  A. Francez,et al.  The Microbial Loop at the Surface of a Peatland:Structure, Function, and Impact of Nutrient Input , 1998, Microbial Ecology.

[19]  W. Petz.  Ecology of the active soil microfauna (Protozoa, Metazoa) of Wilkes Land, East Antarctica , 1997, Polar Biology.

[20]  H. Berger,et al.  A user‐friendly guide to the ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) commonly used by hydrobiologists as bioindicators in rivers, lakes, and waste waters, with notes on their ecology , 1996 .

[21]  N. Breemen,et al.  How Sphagnum bogs down other plants. , 1995 .

[22]  C. Amblard,et al.  Vertical and temporal heterogeneity of planktonic ciliated protozoa in a humic lake , 1994 .

[23]  J. Beaver,et al.  Distribution of planktonic ciliates in highly coloured subtropical lakes: comparison with clearwater ciliate communities and the contribution of myxotrophic taxa to total autotrophic biomass , 1988 .

[24]  J. Beaver,et al.  The Trophic Response of Ciliated Protozoans in Freshwater Lakes , 1982 .

[25]  J. Beaver,et al.  Acid precipitation and the response of ciliated protozoans in Florida lakes: With 3 figures and 3 tables in the text , 1981 .

[26]  C. C. Davis,et al.  The Rotifera of Hummock‐Hollow Formations in a Poor (Mesotrophic) Fen in Newfoundland , 1980 .