Heterotrophic flagellates (Amorpha and Diaphoretiches) in phytotelmata bromeliad (Bromeliaceae)

Abstract

Many plants may accumulate rainwater, forming phytotelmata, aquatic microhabitats inhabited by various organisms. The aim of this study was to conduct an inventory of heterotrophic flagellates associated with phytotelmata of the bromeliad Aechmea distichantha Lem., found in rocky cliffs on the Upper Paraná River. The bromeliads were removed manually from the rocky wall, the water was removed and cultures of organisms of each plant were mounted in Petri dishes. Sixteen species of heterotrophic flagellate were recorded, drawn and described, among them one species belonging to the Amorpha Domain and 15 species to the Diaphoretiches Domain. The groups with most species were Euglenida and Kinetoplastea. The low diversity of heterotrophic flagellates recorded in this study, compared to the plankton of lakes and reservoirs, is probably related to the fact that phytotelmata are habitats with extreme environmental conditions, thus selecting organisms tolerant to these environments.

Análise da comunidade zooplanctônica em fitotelmos de bromélias, Rio de janeiro, Brasil

“…Dentre os protozoários comumente encontrados em bromélias, os flagelados apresentam uma grande importância, pois participam ativamente na ciclagem de nutrientes e no controle do crescimento bacteriano (MENDES, 2019;CORLISS, 2001). Assim como descrito neste periódico, há registros do gênero Chilomonas em fitotelmos de bromélias de paredões rochosos no Paraná (MENDES, 2019;DUARTE, 2013).…”

“…Dentre os protozoários comumente encontrados em bromélias, os flagelados apresentam uma grande importância, pois participam ativamente na ciclagem de nutrientes e no controle do crescimento bacteriano (MENDES, 2019;CORLISS, 2001). Assim como descrito neste periódico, há registros do gênero Chilomonas em fitotelmos de bromélias de paredões rochosos no Paraná (MENDES, 2019;DUARTE, 2013). Todavia, os resultados divergem com uma predominância de indivíduos da ordem Cryptomonadida nas bromélias estudadas, enquanto no Paraná se apontou predominância de Euglenida (MENDES, 2019;DUARTE, 2013).…”

“…Assim como descrito neste periódico, há registros do gênero Chilomonas em fitotelmos de bromélias de paredões rochosos no Paraná (MENDES, 2019;DUARTE, 2013). Todavia, os resultados divergem com uma predominância de indivíduos da ordem Cryptomonadida nas bromélias estudadas, enquanto no Paraná se apontou predominância de Euglenida (MENDES, 2019;DUARTE, 2013). Petermann (2015) sugere que rotíferos e copépodes apresentam um aumento na sua riqueza e abundância em consequência de grandes abundâncias de flagelados e ciliados que acabam servindo-os de alimento.…”

Bromeliad phytotelmata: the first scientometric study

“…One of the reasons for the increase in knowledge about biodiversity in this period may be the greater number of publications at an ecosystem level, with predictive analyses and experimental studies of complex food webs, with the inclusion of organisms from primary producers like bacteria and algae (Salinas et al, 2018;Cereghino et al, 2019;Cereghino et al, 2020). Another important factor was that there was an increase in the diversity of the studied organisms, such as a description of new species of desmids of the genus Cosmarium (Ramos et al, 2018;Ramos et al, 2019) and new records of little-studied groups in phytotelmata, such as viruses, cyanobacteria, tecameba and fungi, expanding the knowledge of their spatial distribution (Trzcinski et al, 2016;Kratina et al, 2017;Mendes et al, 2019).…”

Florivory by the occupants of phytotelmata in flower parts can decrease host plant fecundity

“…These environments are colonized by a range of both micro- and macro-organisms ( Kitching 2001 ; Benítez-Malvido et al 2016 ; Céréghino et al 2020 ), many of which depend exclusively on phytotelmata as a breeding or feeding substrate ( Seifert and Seifert 1976a , 1976 b; Fish 1977 ; Thompson 1997 ). The microorganisms include fungi ( Barbosa et al 2012 ), bacteria ( Giongo et al 2019 ), protozoa ( Dunthorn et al 2012 ; Mendes et al 2019 ), and a number of micro-arthropods ( Naeem 1990 ). Macro-invertebrates are primarily arthropods (e.g., insects, myriads, crustaceans, and arachnids), as well as gastropods and flatworms ( Maguire 1971 ; Seifert 1981 ; Naeem 1990 ; Greeney 2001 ; Campos 2016 ).…”