0000000001278140
AUTHOR
Emmanuella Daza Secco
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…
Testate amoebae community analysis as a tool to assess biological impacts of peatland use
As most ecosystems, peatlands have been heavily exploited for different human purposes. For example, in Finland the majority is under forestry, agriculture or peat mining use. Peatlands play an important role in carbon storage, water cycle, and are a unique habitat for rare organisms. Such properties highlight their environmental importance and the need for their restoration. To monitor the success of peatland restoration sensitive indicators are needed. Here we test whether testate amoebae can be used as a reliable bioindicator for assessing peatland condition. To qualify as reliable indicators, responses in testate amoebae community structure to ecological changes must be stronger than ra…