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Testate Amoebae Like It Hot: Species Richness Decreases Along a Subalpine-Alpine Altitudinal Gradient in Both Natural Calluna vulgaris Litter and Transplanted Minuartia sedoides Cushions

  • Soil Microbiology
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Abstract

Most groups of higher organisms show a decrease in species richness toward high altitude, but the existence of such a pattern is debated for micro-eukaryotes. Existing data are scarce and mostly confounded with the diversity of habitats that also decreases with elevation. In order to disentangle these two factors, one approach is to consider only similar types of habitats occurring across an elevational gradient. We assessed the diversity and community structure of testate amoebae in two specific habitats: (1) natural Calluna vulgaris litter and (2) Minuartia sedoides cushions 7 years after their transplantation along a vertical transect from 1770 to 2430 m in the subalpine and alpine zones of the Swiss Alps. Analyses of co-variance and variance showed that testate amoeba species richness, equitability, and diversity declined with elevation and were significantly correlated to habitat type. In a redundancy analysis, the variation in the relative abundance of the testate amoeba taxa in Calluna vulgaris litter was equally explained by elevation and litter pH. This is the first study documenting a monotonic decrease of protist diversity in similar habitats across an elevational gradient.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (projects no. 205321-109709/1). T.J. Heger is currently supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project no. PA00P3_145374). We thank Alexandre Buttler, François Gillet, Jean-Michel Gobat, Claire Guenat, Julia Gustavsen, Michael De la Harpe, Marcie Kamerzin, Tanja Schwander, Aurélie Thébault, and Jean-David Teuscher for constructive discussion, laboratory assistance, help with statistical analyses, collection and transplantation of Minuartia sedoides, and/or comments on the manuscripts. We thank two referees for insightful comments that helped in improving several aspects of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beaty Biodiversity Center, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    T. J. Heger

  2. University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    N. Derungs & E. A. D. Mitchell

  3. Centre Alpien de Phytogéographie, Fondation J.-M. Aubert, 1938, Champex, Switzerland

    J .P. Theurillat

  4. Laboratoire de Biogéographie, Section de Biologie, Université de Genève, Case postale 60, 1292, Chambésy, Switzerland

    J .P. Theurillat

  5. Jardin Botanique de Neuchâtel, Chemin du Perthuis-du-Sault 58, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    E. A. D. Mitchell

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  1. T. J. Heger
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Correspondence to T. J. Heger.

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Heger, T.J., Derungs, N., Theurillat, J... et al. Testate Amoebae Like It Hot: Species Richness Decreases Along a Subalpine-Alpine Altitudinal Gradient in Both Natural Calluna vulgaris Litter and Transplanted Minuartia sedoides Cushions. Microb Ecol 71, 725–734 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-015-0687-3

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