Do testate amoebae communities recover in concordance with vegetation after restoration of drained peatlands?

The environmental importance of peatlands has stimulated efforts to restore their specific ecosystem structure and functions. Monitoring and assessment of the ecological state of the peatland is fundamental in restoration programmes. Most studies have focused on the responses of vegetation and, to a lesser extent, on testate amoebae (TA). To our knowledge, none have investigated whether these two groups show concordance in the context of restoration of drained peatland. Here we assess community concordance between TA and vegetation in boreal peatlands belonging to four different land use management classes (natural, drained, restored 3–7 years ago, and restored 9–12 years ago). TA and veget…