Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8382402 | European Journal of Protistology | 2018 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
To date there have only been two studies using testate amoebae as palaeoecological indicators in tropical peatlands. Here we present a new â¼500-year testate amoeba record from San Jorge, a domed peatland in Peruvian Amazonia, which has a well-constrained vegetation history based on pollen analysis. We observe a major shift from Hyalosphenia subflava to Cryptodifflugia oviformis-dominated communities at â¼50â¯cm depth (c. AD 1760), which suggests a change to drier conditions in the peatland. The application of a statistical transfer function also suggests a deepening of the water table at this time. The transition in the microbial assemblage occurs at a time when pollen and geochemical data indicate drier conditions (reduced influence of river flooding), leading to an ecosystem switch to more ombrotrophic-like conditions in the peatland. Our work illustrates the potential of testate amoebae as important tools in tropical peatland palaeoecology, and the power of multiproxy approaches for understanding the long-term development of tropical peatlands.
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Authors
Graeme T. Swindles, Thomas J. Kelly, Katherine H. Roucoux, Ian T. Lawson,