First Record of Moss-Inhabiting Testate Amoebae from Jharkhand with Notes on Their Ecological Roles

Abstract

Testate amoebae are protists with protective external shells, unicellular free-living and regarded as good bioindicators of environmental alteration. The occurrence of testate amoebae inhabiting the moss habitats was not recorded in the state of Jharkhand earlier. Therefore, this is the first description of species composition and diversity in the area. In this preliminary study, the samples of moss were taken out on the surface of the soil and the wall in different sites of Argaghat in the Giridih district of Jharkhand. There were 12 different species of testate amoebae found based on analysis which included 6 genera and 6 families. Testate amoebae species are known to be ecologically sensitive and are very useful in monitoring the environment, as they can provide indications on the health and quality of their immediate habitats. In general, the results can substantiate the usefulness of testate amoebae as bioindicators, the study also represented an important source of base data that can be used in future to comprehend the distribution and richness of testate amoebae in India and can demonstrating their importance in monitoring the ecosystem in understudied regions.