Abstract
Bromeliads are a Neotropical family of monocots, colonized by several families of ciliates, with some species that inhabit only this type of microecosystems. Ecological factors such as the presence of water, plant volume, seasonality and predators, have been recognized as important factors, which play a role in the ciliate community structure in tank bromeliads. The objective of this study is to describe different communities of active ciliates from epiphytic and terrestrial bromeliads that inhabit the dry tropical forest, montane cloud forest, oak forest and semideciduous tropical forest in the Mexican Neotropics during the humid season of the year 2016. We found 22 species of active ciliates. A higher richness of ciliate species was found in the bromeliads of the montane cloud forest. Based on statistical tests, we determine that the pH and water temperature, plant diameter, its distance above the ground and altitude above sea level in relation to ciliate abundance explain <50% of the variation; however, the combination of plant diameter and its distance above the ground shows a positive effect in relation to ciliate abundance. We provide new evidence that bromeliads that inhabit mountains and lowland forests in a larger geographic area host ciliate communities with different species composition.
Highlights
Bromeliads comprise a family of flowering plants widely adapted to tropical, subtropical and mountain ecosystems, with more than 3140 species distributed almost exclusively in the Neotropics [1]
The aim of this study is to compare the communities of active ciliates from epiphytic and terrestrial tank and tank-less bromeliads, and to test if there is any effect of some environmental factors in four types of Neotropical forests in Mexico during the humid season of the year 2016
We identified 22 active ciliates species (Table 2) from the 12 bromeliad species across the six localities in the Mexican Neotropics
Summary
Bromeliads comprise a family of flowering plants widely adapted to tropical, subtropical and mountain ecosystems, with more than 3140 species distributed almost exclusively in the Neotropics [1]. Since Nadkarni [2] referred bromeliads as a keystone resource in Neotropical ecosystems, increasing literature has been published about their associated biota and their participation in the nutrient cycling. The foliar architecture of many species of bromeliads has evolved to enhance the formation of a tank as a result of the coalescence of their leaves. The accumulation of rainwater and litter in this tank results in the formation of a phytotelm [5]. More than 170 species have been recorded in bromeliad phytotelmata [7], especially from the classes Olygohymenophorea, Colpodea and Spirotrichea. Ciliate communities that colonize this type of microhabitats are composed of cosmopolitan ciliates (planktonic and soil autochthonous) and the so-called endemic ciliates, inhabiting along the water column, the bottom of the tank or as epibionts of invertebrates [8,9]
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