Testate Amoebae Reflect Present Environmental Conditions in Restored Cut-Over Bogs. A New Tool for Evaluation and Monitoring?

Authors:
Peter Raabe,Till Kleinebecker & Mariusz Lamentowicz

Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress

Venue:
Stockholm

Keywords:
bog-restoration, indicators, north-western-germany, rewetting, water-level

Documentfile:
Raabe et al 2012: Testate Amoebae Reflect Present Environmental Conditions in Restored Cut-Over Bogs. A New Tool for Evaluation

Summary:

Theme V. Restoration, rehabilitation and after-use of disturbed peatlands

SUMMARY

After thirty years of bog restoration in North-Western Germany practical methods for the evaluation of restoration success are still lacking. Here, we tested if testate amoebae (TA) can provide information on the present state of restored bog ecosystems and thus used as monitoring tools. Therefore, TA communities extracted from Sphagnum mosses (n=46) collected in restored sites throughout Lower Saxony were identified and related to measured water table fluctuations and biogeochemical characteristics such as acidity and water nutrient concentrations of pore water. Results of indirect ordination show that TA communities strongly reflect present hydrological conditions and to some extend pH and nutrient status. This leads us to conclude that TA has significant potential to be increasingly used in the future as a helpful tool for evaluation of restoration projects.