Analysis of testate amoeba and microarthropods from pollen samples
John M. Logan
Project
Testate amoeba and microarthropods are potentially proxies for environmental
information. Amoeba may be useful in reconstruction of past hydrology (Buttler et al.,
1996) and sea-levels (Charman, 1998). Microarthropods may provide data about soil
nutrients (Blair and Crossley, 1988) and ecosystem development (Schowalter, 2000).
Can microarthropods and testate amoeba be recognized in pollen samples from the
American southwest? Can they be readily classified and are they proxies for
environmental information?
Methodology
A series of black and white photographs taken during pollen analysis of a series of
pollen samples was examined for testate amoeba and microarthropods. Approximately
21 photographs were noted with testate amoeba or microarthropods.
After the photographs were located they specimens in the photographs were
identified. The primary key for the mites was Krantz (1975) and the primary keys for the
amoeba were found in PDF form on E. A. D. Mitchell’s website. In each case the result
of classification was to be genus and species.
Literature about testate amoeba and mite ecology was searched for data
concerning environments and habitats. The literature and other useful references for both
testate amoeba and mites is included in a bibliography at the end of this report.
Results
Most of the testate amoeba could be identified to the genus and species level,
although some of the identifications are tentative. Most of the mites could be identified
to the super family or family level and many of these as well must be considered
tentative. One specimen was identified to the genus and species level.
Information on habitat/environment was difficult to obtain. There was some
information on most of the specimens, but it was not extensive. The best information
was obtained on some of the testate amoeba identified to genus and species and some of
the mites at the family level.
Discussion
There appears to be considerable potential for identification and environmental
proxy data using both mites and testate amoeba. Some of the specimens were more
easily identified, but all of the specimens that were sufficiently complete could be
identified.
Based on this study it appears that amoeba will be easier to classify than mites
and both will provide some environmental information if identification has high enough
resolution – to the genus and species level.
It will be most interesting to apply the methods of palynology to an assemblage
looking for variation in counts and genera vertically through a soil column. It would also
be interesting (and expensive) to determine if there was a change in the composition of
the minerals in the amoeba tests. One could probably perform a statistical analysis of the
composition of the mite genera to determine their potential impact on soil microbes and
soil fertility.
Ongoing Research
I don’t consider this project done. I am continuing to collect and read literature
resources. I am interested in identifying other testate amoeba and mite specimens. I have
made a contact with Mitch Pavao-Zuckerman, who provided me with the name of a
researcher, Sina Adl, who is analyzing soil decomposition and has done research in
testate amoeba. I will contact them for sources that they may know about on testate
amoeba. I intend to contact the arthropod repository at the University of Arizona for
additional information and/or contacts about microarthropods. This project has potential
if one has the perseverance to continue.
Attachments
There are two sections of attachments, one for testate amoeba and one for mites.
They consist of a table of the taxonomy of the specimens found in the photograph search,
the photographs with identification and a summary of the ecological/environmental
information at the end, and a bibliography. The testate amoeba section is first followed
by the mite section.
Amoeba classification (Ogden and Hedly, 1980) with tentatively identified specimens
(highlighted in gray) from pollen samples.
Subphylum: Sarcodina; Superclass: Rhizopodea; Class: Lobosia; Order: Arcellinida
Superfamily Arcellacea
Family
Arcellidae
Genus and species
Arcella artocrea
Family
Centropyxidae
Genus and species
Centropyxis aculeata
Centropyxis laevigata
Family
Plagiopyxidae
Genus and species
Plagiopyxis
Bullinularia
Family
Trigonopyxidae
Genus and species
Trigonopyxis
Cyclopyxis eurystoma
Family
Hyalospheniidae
Genus and species
Hyalosphenia
Heleopera
Lesquereeusia
Nebela
Quadrullela
Leptochlamys
Family
Paraquadrulidae
Genus and species
Paraquadrula
Family
Difflugiidae
Genus and species
Difflugia
Pontigulasia
Cucurbitella
Sexangularia
Subphylum: Sarcodina; Superclass: Rhizopodea; Class: Lobosia; Order: Arcellinida
Superfamily Cryptodifflugiacea
Family
Cryptodifflugiidae
Genus and species
Cryptodifflugia
Dfflugiella
Wailesella
Family
Phryganelidae
Genus and species
Phryganella arcopodia
Phryganella nidulus
Superfamily Gromiacea
Family
Gromiidae
Genus and species Pseudodifflugia
Family
Amphitrematidae
Genus and species
Amphitrema
Subphylum: Sarcodina; Superclass: Rhizopodea; Class: Filosia; Order: Gromida
Superfamily Euglyphacea
Family
Euglyphidae
Genus and species
Euglypha
Assulina
Placocista
Sphenoderia
Tracheleuglypha
Family
Trinematiidae
Genus and species
Trinema
Corythion
Family
Cyphoderiidae
Genus and species
Cyphoderia
Campascus
Family
Paulinellidae
Genus and species
Paulinella
1.
Phyrganella arcopodia (Mitchell 2003) or Phyrganella nidulus (Cash 1905).
Arizona, site AZ V:16:246.
2.
Arcella discoides. (Mitchell 2003). San Clemente, California.
3.
Cyclopyxis eurystoma (Mitchell 2003). San Nicholas Island, California.
4.
Centropyxis laevigata (?) (Mitchell 2003). Cash (1905, p. 137). San Clemente,
California.
5.
Arcella artocrea (Mitchell 2004). Cash (1905, p. 127-8). San Nicholas Island,
California.
5.
Arcella artocrea (Mitchell 2004). Cash (1905, p. 127-8). San Nicholas Island,
California.
6.
Centropyxis aculeata (?) (Mitchell 2003). San Nicholas Island, California.
7.
Centropyxis aculeata (?) (Mitchell 2003). San Nicholas Island, California.
8.
Centropyxis aculeata (?). (Mitchell 2003). Arizona, St. David Cienega.
Ecological and behavioral information by specimen:
1. Phyrganella arcopodia (Mitchell 2003) or Phyrganella nidulus (Cash 1905).
Both seem to fit the specimen, but Phyrganella nidulus seems to fit better. Cash
and Mitchell describe both species from Spaghum moss.
2. Arcella discoides (Mitchell 2003).
3. Cyclopyxis eurystoma (Mitchell 2003). This may be incorrect Ogden and Hedley
(1980) don’t list North America in the distribution of this species.
4. Arcella artocrea (Mitchell 2004). Cash (1905, p. 127-8) suggests that the species
is rare.
5. Arcella artocrea (Mitchell 2004).
6. Centropyxis aculeata (?) (Mitchell 2003). Ogden and Hedley (1980) don’t list
North America in the distribution list for the species. Cash (1905, p. 134) states
they are found in ponds and ditches on wet moss and spaghum and is most
common in swampy ground.
7. Centropyxis aculeata (?) (Mitchell 2003).
8. Centropyxis laevigata (?) (Mitchell 2003). Cash (1905, p. 137) states the species
is found in spaghum.
Amoeba Bibliography
Anonymous 2001 Community Dynamics of Phytoplankton, Protoplankton and
Bacterioplankton in Selected Wisconsin Lakes. Vol. 37, Blackwell Publishing
Limited,
Anonymous 1986 Control of Multicellular Development: Dictyostelium and
Myxococcus. Annual Review of Genetics 20539-566.
Anonymous 1984 Miscellanea. Vol. 47, no. 5, British Museum Natural History, London.
Bahcall, O.
2005 Network analysis: Profiling epistasis. Nature Reviews Genetics 6(5):349-1.
Booth, R.K., and J.R. Zygmunt
2005 Biogeography and comparative ecology of testate amoebae inhabiting
Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain regions of
North America. Diversity & Distributions 11(6):577-590.
Booth, R.K.
2001 Ecology of testate amoebae (protozoa) in two Lake Superior coastal wetlands:
Implications for paleoecology and environmental monitoring. Wetlands 21(4):564576.
Buttler, Alexandre, Barry G. Warner, Phillipe Grosvernier, Yvan Matthey
1996 Vertical patterns of testate amoeba (Protozoa:Rhizopoda) and peat-forming
vegetation on cutover bogs in the Jura, Switzerland. New Phytologist. 134 (2): 37182.
Cash, James and John Hopkinson
1905 British Freshwater Rhizopoda and Heliozoa. Volume I, Part 1. The Ray
Society, London, England.
Cash, James and John Hopkinson
1905 British Freshwater Rhizopoda and Heliozoa. Volume II, Part II. The Ray
Society, London, England.
Charman, Dan J., Helen M. Roe, and W. Roland Gehrels
1998
The use of testate amoeba in studies of sea-level change: A case study
from the Taf estuary, south Wales, UK. The Holocene. 8 (2): 209-218.
Funamoto, S., C. Anjard, W. Nellen, and H. Ochiai
2003 cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulates Polysphondylium pallidum
development. Differentiation 71(1):51-61.
Hägele, S., R. Köhler, H. Merkert, M. Schleicher, J. Hacker, and M. Steinert
2000 Dictyostelium discoideum: a new host model system for intracellular
pathogens of the genus Legionella. Cellular microbiology 2(2):165-171.
Hauer, G., and A. Rogerson
2005 Remarkable Salinity Tolerance of Seven Species of Naked Amoebae
(gymnamoebae). Hydrobiologia 549(1-3):33-42.
Lamentowicz, M., and E.A.D. Mitchell
2005 The Ecology of Testate Amoebae (Protists) in Sphagnum in Northwestern
Poland in Relation to Peatland Ecology. Microbial ecology 50(1):48-63.
Matapurkar, A.K., and M.G. Watve
1997 Altruist cheater dynamics in Dictyostelium: Aggregated distribution gives
stable oscillations. American Naturalist 150(6):790.
Mauquoy, D., and K. Barber
1999 Evidence for climatic deteriorations associated with the decline of Sphagnum
imbricatum Hornsch. ex Russ. in six ombrotrophic mires from northern England and
the Scottish Borders. Holocene 9(4):423-437.
Mitchell, E.A.D., A. Butter, P. Grosvernier, H. Rydin, C. Albinsson, A.L. Greenup,
M.M.P.D. Heijmans, M.R. Hossbeek, and T. Sarrinen
2000 Relationships among testate amoebae (Protozoa), vegetation and water
chemistry in five Sphagnum-dominated peatlands in Europe. New Phytologist
145(1):95-106.
Mitchell, Edward A. D.
2003. The identification of Centropyxis, Cyclopyxis, Trigonopyxis and similar
Phryganella species living in Sphagnum. Guide available on website as PDF.
Mitchell, Edward A. D.
2004 http://wslar.epfl.ch/mitchell/edward/testate_amoebae.htm. Updated 4-24-04.
Accessed 12-12-05.
Muangphra, P.
1982 Some testate amoebae (Testcealobosea; Sarcodina; Protozoa) from mosses of
Kansas.
Ogden, C.G., and R.H. Hedley
1980 An atlas of freshwater testate amoebae. Oxford University Press for the British
Museum Natural History, Oxford.
Polne-Fuller, M., R. Trench, A. Gibor, University of California, Santa Barbara. Marine
Science Institute, and United States. Office of Naval Research
1991 An amoeba/zoozanthellae consortium as a model system for animal/algal
symbiosis. University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.
Raederstorff, D., and M. Rohmer
1987 The action of the systemic fungicides tridemorph and fenpropimorph on sterol
biosynthesis by the soil amoeba Acanthamoeba polyphaga. European Journal of
Biochemistry 164(2):421-426.
Schultz, D.A.
1999 Chemotaxis of the testate ameba -.
Tuma, R., and W.A. Wells
2002 Neutrophils on the move. Journal of Cell Biology 156(2):226.
Velho, L.F.M., L.M. Bini, and F.A. Lansac-Tôha
2004 Testate Amoeba (Rhizopoda) Diversity in Plankton of the Upper Paraná River
floodplain, Brazil. Hydrobiologia 523(1-3):103-111.
Mites classification (Krantz, 1975) with tentatively identified specimens (highlighted in
gray) from pollen samples.
Phyllum: Arthropoda; Subphyllum: Chelicerata; Class: Archnida; Order: Acari
Order: Parasitiformes
Suborder
Mesostigmata
Super Cohort Monogynaspida
Cohort Uropodina
Super Family Trachytoidea
Family
Trachytidae
Genus and species
Caminella peraphora
Cohort Gamasina
Super Family Parasitoidea
Family
Zerconidae
Order: Trombidiformes
Suborder
Prostigmata
Super Family Hydrachnoidea
Family
Hydrachnidae
Super Family Hygrobatoidea
Family
Hygrobatidae
Family
Bdellidae
1. Caminella peraphora (?) Krantz (1978, p. 75). Arizona, site AZ AA:12:753.
2.
Zerconidae. (Krantz, 1978, p. 83-8). California, site CA-RIV-1492.
3. Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, adult (?) dorsal (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). Aztlan 1245.
4. Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, adult (?) ventral (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). Statistical Research 351.
5. Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, adult (?) dorsal (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). Statistical Research 351.
6.
Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, adult (?) dorsal (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). California, site CA-RIV-1492.
7.
Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, adult (?) ventral (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). Statistical Research 351.
8.
Hygrobatoidea (?) (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Arizona, site AZ BB:14:598.
9.
Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, nymph (?) (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). San Clemente, California.
10.
Superfamily Hydrachnoidea, nymph (?) (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). Family
Hydrachinae (?) (Cook, 1974). San Clemente, California
11.
Unidentified. Arizona, site AZ BB:9:173. Arizona, site AZ BB:9:173.
12.
Unidentified. Statistical Research 165.
13.
Unidentified. San Nicholas Island.
Ecological and behavioral information by specimen:
1.
Caminella peraphora (?) Krantz (1978, p. 75). “Caminella peraphora
(Trachytidae) is virtually semi-aquatic in habitat, being found only in wet
moss anchored in streams.” AZ AA:12 753.
2.
Zerconidae. (Krantz, 1978, p. 83-8). None of the specimens Krantz (1978),
Urhan (1998) or Urhan (2002) illustrated fit the specimen in the photograph.
The specimen doesn’t appear to correspond with Zercon (spp.). Zercon
species all have setae labeled J1 and J2 posterior on the anterior double or
more in length of the other setae. The posterior anterior setae on the
photograph specimen are all equal in length. Krantz (1978, p. 71) notes that
the Zerconidae are parasites. The Zerconidae (Urhan 2002, p. 2127) live in
humus and litter from a variety of habitats – woodlands, grasslands, and
heathlands and also live among mosses and lichens. He states they are
oliphagous predators (feeding on the same family, but potentially different
genera), not parasites.
3.
Hydrachnoidea (?) (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). The gnathosoma matches, but
there are many other features that don’t, like the dorsal and anal shield on the
photograph specimen, lacking in the illustrated specimen. The specimen in
the photograph has no setae, but the specimen in the illustration has them.
Specimens 3-7appear to be the same super family. Specimens 6 and 7 may be
nymphs. Cook (1974, p. 33) includes only one family – Hydrachnidae. The
female lays eggs in intercellular air spaces of plants. The nymphs are
parasites of aquatic Hemiptera and Coleoptera exclusively, remaining attached
to the host for relatively long periods of time (Cook, 1974, p. 34). They don’t
leave the pond during the nymph and nymphochrysalis stages. During the
nymph an adult stages they live in temporary ponds. They leave the pond
when it dries out, living in permanent water during the winter or dry season
(Cook, 1974, p. 33-4).
4.
See listing for specimen 3.
5.
See listing for specimen 3.
6.
See listing for specimen 3.
7.
See listing for specimen 3.
8.
Hygrobatoidea (?) (Krantz, 1978, p. 174-82). The specimen keys to this
superfamily, but it has features not visible in the illustrated specimens. Cook
(1974, p. 151) notes that the larval stage of this super family is adapted for
swimming with the second, third and sometimes first coxa fused.
9.
See listing for specimen 3. Nymph (?).
10.
See listing for specimen 3. Nymph (?).
11.
Unidentified.
12.
Unidentified.
13.
Unidentified. Chelicera (?).
Mite Bibliography
André, H.M., X. Ducarme, and P. Lebrun
2002 Soil biodiversity: myth, reality or conning? Oikos 96(1):3-24.
Blair, John M. and D. A. Crossley
1988.
Litter decomposition, nitrogen dynamics and litter microarthropods in a
southern Applachian hardwood forest 8 years following clearcutting. Journal of
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Cole, L., S.M. Buckland, and R.D. Bardgett
2005 Relating microarthropod community structure and diversity to soil fertility
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Coleman, D., S. Fu, P. Hendrix, and D. Crossley Jr
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1974 Water mite genera and subgenera. Memoirs of the American Entomological
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http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/
http://wslar.epfl.ch/mitchell/edward/testate_amoebae.htm