The paper describes a dataset, comprising 236 surface moss samples and 143 testate amoeba taxa. The samples were collected in 11 Sphagnum-dominated bogs during frost-free seasons of 2004, 2007, 2009, ...2017, and 2022. For the whole dataset, the sampling effort was sufficient in terms of observed species richness (143 species in total), though a regional species pool is deemed to be discovered incompletely (143 species is its lower 95 % confidence limit using Chao’s estimator). The local community composition demonstrated high heterogeneity in a reduced ordination space. It supports the opinion that the high versatility of bog ecosystems should be taken into account during ecological studies. Dataset: Dataset License: CC-BY 4.0
•Uncertainty surrounds the role of human activity in microbial biogeography.•We considered an unusual soil translocation ‘accidental experiment’.•We find no evidence for testate amoeba species ...translocation.•It appears that over thirty years the assemblage may have acclimated to Arctic conditions.
The role of human activity as a vector in the movement of soil microorganisms is uncertain and disputed. It is increasingly clear that some larger microorganisms have restricted distributions and plausible to imagine that many human activities could lead to exotic species introductions, but concrete examples are lacking. We investigated an unusual case study: the former mining settlement of Pyramiden on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. In around 1983 large quantities of chernozem soils were imported from the southern USSR as part of an urban greening initiative, bringing large numbers of soil organisms to a very different physical environment. Focusing on a readily-identifiable group of protists with documented regional endemism (testate amoebae), we assessed morphospecies assemblages after thirty years. We analysed communities from Pyramiden imported soils and conducted comparisons to: i) nearby locations with non-imported near-natural soils; ii) previously-established datasets from near-natural Svalbard soils and chernozem soils in southern Russia, and iii) regional species inventories from both regions. Our aims were to assess how the community has adapted to the change in physical conditions and identify any evidence for the import of exotic taxa. Our results show significant differences between the assemblages of imported soils and those of nearby reference sites but strict comparisons are complicated by the different treatment of soils in different locations. No taxa were identified which can be unambiguously identified as atypical for the region. Assemblages of imported soils were more similar to those of other sites on Svalbard than to assemblages from southern Russia. Our data are equivocal but suggest that the testate amoeba assemblages of soils transported more than 3000 km northwards have substantially acclimated to the new conditions, contrasting with micro-invertebrates in the same site. ‘Accidental experiments’ like the soils of Pyramiden provide unique opportunities for long-term, large-scale, soil biological research.
Palaeoecological analyses of Falkland Island peat profiles have largely been confined to pollen analyses. In order to improve understanding of long-term Falkland Island peat development processes, ...the plant macrofossil and stable isotope stratigraphy of an 11,550 year Falkland Island Cortaderia pilosa (‘whitegrass’) peat profile was investigated. The peatland developed into an acid, whitegrass peatland via a poor fen stage. Macrofossil charcoal indicate that local fires have frequently occurred throughout the development of the peatland. Raman spectroscopy analyses indicate changes in the intensity of burning which are likely to be related to changes in fuel types, abundance of fine fuels due to reduced evapotranspiration/higher rainfall (under weaker Southern Westerly Winds), peat moisture and human disturbance. Stable isotope and thermogravimetric analyses were used to identify a period of enhanced decomposition of the peat matrices dating from ∼7020 cal yr BP, which possibly reflects increasing strength of the Southern Westerly winds. The application of Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses to the Falkland Island peat profile identified changes in fire intensity and decomposition which were not detectable using the techniques of macrofossil charcoal and plant macrofossil analyses.
•An 11,550 year Falkland Island peat profile records a constant presence of burning.•Raman spectroscopy identifies changes in burning intensity.•TGA analyses indicate changes in the preservation of the peat matrices.•Increased strength of the Southern Westerly winds identified at ∼7020 cal. BP.
Birds can be an important agent of environmental change in High Arctic ecosystems, particularly due to the role of seabirds as a vector transferring nutrients from the marine to terrestrial realms. ...The soils of bird nesting sites are known to host distinct plant communities but the consequences of bird modification for microorganisms are much less clear. Our focus here is testate amoebae: a widely-distributed group of protists with significant roles in many aspects of ecosystem functioning. We compared the testate amoeba assemblages of a site on Spitsbergen (Svalbard archipelago) affected by nesting birds, with nearby control sites. We found differences in assemblage between sites, typified by reduced relative abundance of Phryganella acropodia and Centropyxis aerophila in bird-modified soils. These changes may reflect a reduced availability of fungal food sources. We found no evidence for differences in assemblage diversity or test concentration between bird-modified and control soils. Our dataset is small but results provide the first evidence for the potential effect of bird modification of soils on testate amoebae in the Arctic. Results show only limited similarity to experimental studies of nutrient addition, implying that response mechanisms may be more complicated than simply additional nutrient supply.
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