Identification of Testate Amoeba Communities and Their Influencing Factors in Dali Lake
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Sample Collection
2.3. Research Methods
2.3.1. Determination of Nutrients in Lake Water
2.3.2. Extraction of Testate Amoebae
- Approximately 5 g of sediment sample was weighed into a 200 mL beaker, rinsed with distilled water, and gently stirred with a distilled-water-rinsed glass rod for 10 min to separate testate amoebae from the sediment matrix.
- The stirred suspension was sequentially sieved through 300 μm and 20 μm meshes to remove coarse particles and mineral detritus, with the 20–300 μm sediment fraction retained for microscopic observation.
- The residue on the sieves was rinsed back into a 200 mL beaker with distilled water, adjusted to a constant volume of 200 mL, and then ultrasonicated for 5 min. Ultrasonication dispersed aggregated sediment particles and improved the testate amoeba separation efficiency. A 5-min treatment did not cause obvious damage to the tests.
- The ultrasonicated suspension was re-sieved through 300 μm and 20 μm meshes in sequence, and the 20–300 μm fraction was retained as the observation sample.
- The processed sample was transferred into a 50 mL centrifuge tube and allowed to stand for 24 h.
- Microscopic observation and identification: After standing, the supernatant was completely removed using a disposable pipette. The remaining suspension was gently shaken, and an aliquot of 50 μL of the suspension was pipetted onto a glass slide and covered with a coverslip. Identification and quantitative counting were performed under an Olympus BX53 optical microscope, using 10× eyepieces combined with a 20× objective (total magnification: 200×) for routine observation and a 40× objective (total magnification: 400×) for verifying tiny tests. At least 150 tests were identified per sample. For samples with low testate amoeba abundance, no fewer than 6 slides were examined. Pre-experimental results indicated that at least 8 slides needed to be identified per sampling site. In total, 72 slides were analyzed for the surface sediment samples.
2.3.3. Analysis of Testate Amoeba Species Indices in Surface Sediments of Dali Lake
2.3.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Distribution Characteristics of Testate Amoebae in Dali Lake Surface Sediments
3.2. Analysis of Species Indices of Testate Amoebae in Dali Lake Surface Sediments
3.3. Environmental Factors at Different Sampling Sites in Dali Lake
3.4. Correlation Analysis Between Testate Amoeba Communities and Environmental Factors
3.5. Ordination Analysis of Testate Amoeba Communities and Environmental Factors
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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| Sampling Site | Longitude (E) | Latitude (N) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL1 | 116°41′44.2″ | 43°22′11.5″ | 5.8 |
| DL2 | 116°31′59.2″ | 43°20′59.7″ | 5.95 |
| DL3 | 116°35′53.4″ | 43°19′54.7″ | 6.4 |
| DL4 | 116°37′51.9″ | 43°17′55.7″ | 6.5 |
| DL5 | 116°40′37.9″ | 43°18′48.8″ | 7.3 |
| DL6 | 116°33′58.1″ | 43°16′59.4″ | 6.3 |
| DL7 | 116°33′40.2″ | 43°15′35.9″ | 9.09 |
| DL8 | 116°39′57.8″ | 43°15′56.8″ | 6.3 |
| DL9 | 116°35′20.6″ | 43°14′59.9″ | 8.59 |
| DL10 | 116°30′4.3″ | 43°14′16.9″ | 7.4 |
| DL11 | 116°30′58.6″ | 43°14′17.5″ | 6.82 |
| DL12 | 116°37′59.6″ | 43°14′5.1″ | 8.59 |
| Number | Species Name | Code | Relative Abundance (%) | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phryganella acropodia | PHRACR | 24.75 | 9 |
| 2 | Arcella discoides | ARCDIS | 35.64 | 7 |
| 3 | Hyalosphenia subflava | HYASUB | 10.89 | 6 |
| 4 | Centropyxis ecornis | CENECO | 1.49 | 2 |
| 5 | Trinema complanatum | TRICOM | 8.42 | 5 |
| 6 | Centropyxis aerophila type | CENAER | 4.46 | 4 |
| 7 | Arcella gibbosa | ARCGIB | 11.39 | 5 |
| 8 | Arcella vulgaris | ARCVUL | 2.97 | 2 |
| Site | pH | TN (mg/L) | TP (mg/L) | COD (mg/L) | TOC (mg/L) | Chl-a (mg/m3) | EC (ms/cm) | DIP (mg/L) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL1 | 9.5 | 0.91 | 2.41 | 73.64 | 81.29 | 0.93 | 1826 | 1.31 |
| DL2 | 8.34 | 0.82 | 2.68 | 39.53 | 75.46 | 0.82 | 1652 | 1.35 |
| DL3 | 9.46 | 0.98 | 2.97 | 23.09 | 96.34 | 0.71 | 1801 | 0.95 |
| DL5 | 8.48 | 0.82 | 2.83 | 39.65 | 86.39 | 0.83 | 1650 | 1.28 |
| DL6 | 8.47 | 0.83 | 3.07 | 21.55 | 93.25 | 0.69 | 1102 | 1.24 |
| DL8 | 9.5 | 0.9 | 2.85 | 31.23 | 90.26 | 0.71 | 1455 | 1.61 |
| DL9 | 8.57 | 0.83 | 2.9 | 57.23 | 85.68 | 0.64 | 1850 | 1.59 |
| DL11 | 9.47 | 0.86 | 3.21 | 22.44 | 98.23 | 0.71 | 1830 | 1.01 |
| DL12 | 8.46 | 0.78 | 2.92 | 31.44 | 87.41 | 0.32 | 1647 | 1.33 |
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Sun, B.; Guo, Y.; Wang, C.; Zhen, Z. Identification of Testate Amoeba Communities and Their Influencing Factors in Dali Lake. Water 2026, 18, 1521. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18121521
Sun B, Guo Y, Wang C, Zhen Z. Identification of Testate Amoeba Communities and Their Influencing Factors in Dali Lake. Water. 2026; 18(12):1521. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18121521
Chicago/Turabian StyleSun, Biao, Yuying Guo, Chunling Wang, and Zhilei Zhen. 2026. "Identification of Testate Amoeba Communities and Their Influencing Factors in Dali Lake" Water 18, no. 12: 1521. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18121521
APA StyleSun, B., Guo, Y., Wang, C., & Zhen, Z. (2026). Identification of Testate Amoeba Communities and Their Influencing Factors in Dali Lake. Water, 18(12), 1521. https://doi.org/10.3390/w18121521

