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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 2436

Vassil Golemansky and Milcho T. Todorov; [Comparative Studies on the Composition and Distribution of the Thecamoeban Fauna (Rhizopoda, Testacea) in Three Types of Soil in Vitosha Mountain]. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 29:50-64, 1985

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Three types of soil were studied, namely: brown mountain-forest (between 600-700 and 1700-1800 m ab.s.l), mountain-meadow sod and mountain-meadow turf (over 1800 m ab.s.l). A total of 99 species and varieties of 27 genera of thecamoebas were established, the largest number of species (65) occurring in mountain-meadow turf soils, 59- in brown mountain-forest soils and 19- in mountain-meadow sod soil. Brown mountain-forest soils in deciduous forests (Fagus sylvatica, Betula alba, Carpinus betulus, etc.) contain a more diverse thecamoeban fauna compared to the same type of soil in coniferous forests (Picea excelsa, Pinus sylvestris, etc.). The thecamoeban fauna similarity coefficients of the three soil types, as computed by the Sorensen formula, are relatively low and fall within the limits of 0.29 to 0.46 for the species and 0.49 to 0.65 for the genera. The widest specific variety and the highest density in all soil types were established in the surface humus layer from 0 to 5 cm depth. The deepest layers with living thecamoebas were at 50 cm in brown mountain-forest soils, at 30 cm in mountain-meadow soils and 20 cm in mountain-meadow turf soils.