Community Structure of Testate Amoebae in Soil and Tree Moss of Tropical Evergreen Forests in the Western Ghats, Kerala, India

The community structure and species composition of Testate amoebae inhabiting in two different microhabitats (soil and tree moss) with a tropical forest biome in Western Ghats viz., Mannavan shola and Pambadum shola was investigated in this article. A total of 63 species were recorded in the two locations and two substrate types. The ANOSIM and ANOVA of total species richness show generally similar patterns where there is a significant difference between tree bark samples from the two sites and there being no difference in the soil samples between two sites. This is the first study of Testate amoebae diversity in the tropical wet evergreen forests of southern India and from these observations it is possible that testate amoeba in tree moss can be used as a good indicator of anthropogenic stresses in these southern evergreen forests of India.