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Mitchell, Edward
Nom
Mitchell, Edward
Affiliation principale
Fonction
Professeur ordinaire
Email
edward.mitchell@unine.ch
Identifiants
Résultat de la recherche
Voici les éléments 1 - 10 sur 25
- PublicationAccès libreThe perils of taxonomic inconsistency in quantitative palaeoecology: experiments with testate amoeba data(2011)
- PublicationAccès libreRediscovery of Nebela ansata (Amoebozoa: Arcellinida) in eastern North America: biogeographical implications(2011)
Location Global.
Methods We analysed (1) 3400 testate amoeba publications from North America and other continents, (2) unpublished slides of the Penard Collection of the Natural History Museum, London, UK, and (3) 104 Sphagnum samples from eastern North America. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to visualize the similarities in testate amoeba community composition among 1012 North American samples, including two communities that contained N. ansata.
Results We rediscovered N. ansata at a site in New Jersey located close to its type locality, and in Nova Scotia. We also report the existence of an apparently unpublished museum specimen originally collected from New Jersey. Our extensive literature survey confirmed the presence of this species only in the temperate part of eastern North America. The NMDS revealed that communities with N. ansata were less similar to each other than to communities from other parts of North America, suggesting that favourable habitats for N. ansata occur in other Sphagnum-dominated peatlands, a habitat type that has been extensively sampled in North America and elsewhere.
Main conclusions These data provide an unusually convincing case of a free-living microorganism with a very limited distribution range in the temperate part of eastern North America. The remarkably restricted distribution of N. ansata highlights the extent of our ignorance about the natural history of free-living microorganisms, and raises questions about the lack of attention to microbial diversity in conservation biology. - PublicationAccès libreComparing Potential COI and SSU rDNA Barcodes for Assessing the Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Cyphoderiid Testate Amoebae (Rhizaria: Euglyphida)(2011)
; - PublicationAccès libreHighly Diverse and Seasonally Dynamic Protist Community in a Pristine Peat Bog(2011)
; ; - PublicationAccès libreResponse of testate amoeba assemblages to environmental and climatic changes during the Lateglacial–Holocene transition at Lake Lautrey (Jura Mountains, eastern France)(2010)
; - PublicationAccès libreCOI gene and ecological data suggest size-dependent high dispersal and low intra-specific diversity in free-living terrestrial protists (Euglyphida: Assulina)(2010)
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Location Europe.
Methods We collected individual Assulina species cells from Sphagnum peatlands across Europe. We sequenced a 550-bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) to estimate the within-species variability, as a proxy for gene flow. We reviewed existing ecological and palaeoecological data to assess the ecological tolerance of Assulina species and how rapidly they colonized developing peatlands.
Results We obtained COI sequences for 30 individuals of A. seminulum from eleven sites, for 39 of A. muscorum from six sites, and for six of A. scandinavica from two sites. We observed three haplotypes for A. seminulum and two for A. muscorum, often co-existing in the same sites. The sequences of A. scandinavica from the two sites were identical. Assulina muscorum and A. seminulum haplotypes varied by only 1–2 nucleotides, resulting in >99.5% similarity. Genetic diversity within A. seminulum was higher than that within A. muscorum. Ecological and palaeoecological records showed that A. muscorum was much more frequent and abundant than A. seminulum, and had a somewhat broader ecological tolerance for pH, moisture and water-table depth. Assulina muscorum always appeared early during the developmental history of peatlands, either before or simultaneously with A. seminulum.
Main conclusions The lack of genetic structure observed with a variable marker such as COI suggests high gene flow between the sites and thus rapid transport (at an evolutionary scale) over large distances, in agreement with the palaeoecological records. Thus, geographical distance alone does not seem to prevent the dispersal of testate amoebae, at least within Europe. Nevertheless, genetic diversity was significantly lower within A. muscorum than within A. seminulum, suggesting that its smaller size and abundance and/or broader ecological tolerance influence its effective dispersal capacity. These results are in agreement with the often earlier colonization of peatlands by A. muscorum and its broader ecological tolerance. - PublicationAccès libreTestate Amoebae Examined by Confocal and Two-Photon Microscopy: Implications for Taxonomy and Ecophysiology(2010)
; Kubínová, LucieTestate amoebae (TA) are a group of free-living protozoa, important in ecology and paleoecology. Testate amoebae taxonomy is mainly based on the morphological features of the shell, as examined by means of light microscopy or (environmental) scanning electron microscopy (SEM/ESEM). We explored the potential applications of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), two photon excitation microscopy (TPEM), phase contrast, differential interference contrast (DIC Nomarski), and polarization microscopy to visualize TA shells and inner structures of living cells, which is not possible by SEM or environmental SEM. Images captured by CLSM and TPEM were utilized to create three-dimensional (3D) visualizations and to evaluate biovolume inside the shell by stereological methods, to assess the function of TA in ecosystems. This approach broadens the understanding of TA cell and shell morphology, and inner structures including organelles and endosymbionts, with potential implications in taxonomy and ecophysiology. - PublicationAccès libreCommunity development along a proglacial chronosequence: are above-ground and below-ground community structure controlled more by biotic than abiotic factors?(2010)
; 1. We studied vascular plant and soil-dwelling testate amoeba communities in deglaciated sites across a range of substrate ages in Kenai Fjords, Alaska, USA to test four hypotheses. (i) Patterns of community assembly are similar for vascular plants and testate amoebae. (ii) Vascular plant and testate amoeba communities are more strongly correlated to abiotic variables than to each other, since these communities are not directly linked trophically. (iii) Plant community structure becomes less associated with abiotic condition in succession relative to testate amoebae, as species replacement is believed to be more common for plants than testate amoebae. (iv) Above- and below-ground communities become more strongly linked over the succession, due a shift from predominantly allogenic to autogenic forces.
2. We assessed relationships among biotic communities and abiotic site variables across the chronosequence using multiple factor analysis, redundancy analysis (RDA) and a moving-window analysis. 3. The diversity patterns and the communities’ response to site and soil variables differed between groups. The composition of both communities was significantly explained by bedrock type and moisture regime. The vascular plant community, however, was more influenced by distance from the glacier.
4. Testate amoeba and vascular plant community patterns were significantly linked to each other and to location and physical conditions. The moving-window RDA indicates the variation explained by the physical and chemical environment tended to slightly decrease through the chronosequence for testate amoebae, while a bell-shape response was evidenced for vascular plants. The variation of the microbial community explained by the plant community was very low in the early stages of the succession and became higher than the variation explained by the environmental variables later in the chronosequence.
5. Synthesis. These results suggest that vascular plants and testate amoebae are as linked or more in ecosystem development than either community is to changes in site condition. Furthermore, the strength of interactions varies along the succession. Thus, ecological links may be more important than macro-scale abiotic site condition is to community development, even between communities without direct trophic interactions. - PublicationAccès libreA near-annual palaeohydrological study based on testate amoebae from a sub-alpine mire: surface wetness and the role of climate during the instrumental period(2009)
; - PublicationMétadonnées seulementThe curse of taxonomic uncertainty in biogeographical studies of free-living terrestrial protists: a case study of testate amoebae from Amsterdam Island(2009)
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