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We investigated the relationships between testate amoebae (Arcellinida, Euglyphida), vegetation and water chemistry along environmental gradients in minerotrophic peatlands (fens) in western Poland. We hypothesized that: a) hydrochemistry significantly influences structure of testate amoeba communities, and b) testate amoeba communities are more closely correlated with the hydrochemical variables (environment) than with the vegetation data. Testate amoeba communities and vegetation from 71 sample plots were investigated together with the hydro-chemistry and hydrology based on 16 environmental variables and vegetation composition. Testate amoeba communities revealed a distinctive poor-rich gradient in analysed fens. Mineral-rich habitats, which were dominated by brown mosses, were preferred by a higher number of taxa than acidic habitats, which were dominated by Sphagnum. We recorded a total of 107 testate amoebae taxa. The average species richness of testate amoebae for brown mosses was higher (20) than for Sphagnum (13). We found that testate amoebae communities were similarly correlated with vascular plants, mosses and environmental parameters. Results of direct ordination demonstrate that hydrology, pH, Mg 2+ and sodium remain the most important environmental control for the entire data set. CCA showed that in case of brown mosses hydrology, sodium and oxygen affect testate amoeba communities significantly whereas in Sphagnum only sodium emerge as most significant determining testate amoeba assemblages. IntroductionKnowledge about microorganisms is important for understanding peatland ecosystems (GIL- BERT and MITCHELL, 2006). A holistic ecosystem approach, however, is not possible because the number of variables, groups of organisms and interactions is too large to be described in one study. Relationships between soil microbes and plants have not been well explored and increasing numbers of studies are focusing on belowground interactions (WARDLE, 2006;BEVER et al., 2010). In the case of peatlands (especially rich fens), a lot of work is needed to fully explore microbial communities. Among them testate amoebae (Arcellinida, Euglyphida) are an important group of biotic indicators. These organisms live in the soil and mosses in fens and are useful for thoroughly exploring environmental gradients. Their biomass and density in wetlands depends strongly on the abundance and the level of the complicated spatial structure of the plants (MIECZAN, 2010) . They graze on other microbes, such as bacteria, algae and fungi, and play an important role in the soil microbial loop and nutrient cycle in soils (GILBERT et al., 1998;WILKINSON and MITCHELL, 2010). Furthermore, testate amoebae have been used in ecological studies of the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change (LAMENTOWICZ et al., 2010b;TSYGANOV et al., 2010) and also are usefull paleoindicators of hydrological changes on ombrotrophic peatlands (BOOTH, 2002) however until now most of the research have been conducted in raised bogs or Sphagnum...

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Abstract:The sustainable development rule implementation is tested by the application of chemometrics in the field of environmental pollution. A data set consisting of Cd, Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Fe content in bottom sediment samples collected in the Odra River (Germany/Poland) is treated using cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and source apportionment techniques. Cluster analysis clearly shows that pollution on the German bank is higher than on the Polish bank. Two latent factors extracted by PCA explain over 88 % of the total variance of the system, allowing identification of the dominant "semi-natural" and "anthropogenic" pollution sources in the river ecosystem. The complexity of the system is proved by MLR analysis of the absolute principal component scores (APCS). The apportioning clearly shows that Cd, Pb, Cr, Zn and Cu participate in an "anthropogenic" source profile, whereas Fe and Mn are "semi-natural". Multiple regression analysis indicates that for particular elements not described by the model, the amounts vary from 4.2 % (Mn) to 13.1 % (Cr). The element Ni participates to some extent to each source and, in this way, is neither pure "semi-natural" nor pure "anthropogenic". Apportioning indicates that the whole heavy metal pollution in the investigated river reach is 12510.45 mg·kg −1 . The contribution of pollutants originating from "anthropogenic sources" is 9.04 % and from "semi-natural" sources is 86.53 % .

Abstract:The study presents habitat and phytosociological analyses of the Chara intermedia phytocenoses, rare described in Europe. 16 physico-chemical water parameters were analysed, coming from the samples taken in 20 phytocenoses of 13 lakes located in western Poland. The analysed community appeared in naturally shallow lakes representing last stages of the disappearance of glacial water basins. The study attempts to estimate the bioindicative value of the charophyta meadow Charetum intermediae in relation to its habitat. A particular attention has been paid to the determination of the habitat trophic condition, and to the concentration of elements connected with the hardness of water and the content of humic substances. The study shows crucial habitat gradients of the C. intermediae association, taking into account also the species composition of phytocenoses.