Shell Amebas of the Natural and Historical Park “Bitsevsky Forest”, Moscow

Abstract

For the first time in protozoology, research was carried out on the fauna of testate amoebae in a city park. One hundred and nine species and infraspecific taxa of this group of free-living protozoa were found in various types of habitats in the Bitsevsky Forest park in Moscow. To assess the species diversity of testate amoebae, samples were taken from tree hollows; small oligo-mesotrophic swamps; epiphytic mosses from tree trunks; mosses on deadwood; bottom samples from reservoirs; soil samples near tree trunks, as well as directly in the area of the Yasenevo park estate. Various ecological groups of testate amoebae have been identified, the richest communities of eurybionts inhabited soils, as well as mosses on deadwood. Bottom sediments of manor ponds were inhabited mainly by hydrophilic species of the genus Difflugia.