Evidence supporting the concept of a regionalized distribution of testate amoebae in the Arctic

Abstract

Forty different sites, represented by 1483 samples, ranging from Alaska eastwards to Siberia, have been studied to assess the circumpolar testate amoebae species diversity. A total of 378 species have been recorded. The most common taxa are cosmopolitan and are widely distributed across various arctic habitats. Statistical analysis of testate amoebae species at sites across the Arctic have yielded geographic clusters of sampling sites that have been matched with climatic regions in the Arctic. We put forward the hypothesis that the differences in testate amoebae diversity across the Arctic hint to the existence of protozoological arctic regions. The problems concerning the question of the origin of the testate amoebae in the Arctic are also discussed, with emphasis on two arctic flagship species.