Ecological relationship between the physico-chemical variables and the dynamics of ciliated protozoa in a tropical aquatic-system (Cameroon)
Paper Details
Ecological relationship between the physico-chemical variables and the dynamics of ciliated protozoa in a tropical aquatic-system (Cameroon)
Abstract
The eco-dynamical relationship has been established between the environmental variables and the distribution of ciliated protozoa in an aquatic ecosystem in Yaounde, Cameroon that is being subjected to anthropogenic pollution. These biological indicators for polysaprobic and mesosaprobic lotic and lentic systems were more exigent for biotopes with a high level of biodegradable organic and mineral content. Ammonia, Dissolved Carbon Dioxide and the presence of water hardness indicators were more determinant in the proliferation of ciliates such as Caenomorpha medusula and Metopus ovatus which are confirmed biological indicators of very high pollution. The quantitative and qualitative dispersion of the infusorian community was more related to the physico-chemical parameters of the medium that have been considered in our investigation. The stalk and the contractile axis in Vorticella impose a structural resistance of varied pollution load. The spinning movement envisaged in Urocentrum turbo contribute in the search for proper habitat, food and also in absconding the prey-predatorrelationship, which is very rampant in streams and rivers. The presence of a food vacuole, a contractile vacuole, a cytopharynx and pellicles can influence the stability of the ciliate population in water, while the cilia play a primordial role in the displacement of these protozoans in their media as they trophically articulate between the micro-zooplankton and the macro-zooplankton.
Andruschyschyn O, Magnusson AK, Williams DD. 2003. Ciliate population in temporary freshwater ponds: seasonal dynamics and influential factors. Freshwater Biology 48(3), 548-564.
Choi SC. 1977. Test of equality of dependent correlations. Biometrika 64(3), 645–647
Corder GW, Foreman DI. 2009. “Nonparametric Statistics for Non-Statisticians: A Step-by-Step Approach”, Wiley
Dragesco J, Dragesco Kerneis. 1986. Ciliés libres de l’Afrique intertropicale. Faune tropicale, XXVI, édition de l’Orstom 1- 559.
Galiano-Fernandez T, Serrano S, Galiano-Fernandez D. 1985. General morphology and stomatogenesis of two species of the genus Entodinium (Ciliophora, Entodiniomorphida). Acta Protozool 24,181–186.
Henglong X, Weibo S, Warren A, 2004. An investigation of the tolerance to ammonia of the marine ciliate, Euplotes vannus (Protozoa ciliophora), Hydrobiologia 519,1-3, 189-195.
Kodama Y, Fujishima M. 2010. Secondary symbiosis between Paramecium and Chlorella cells. International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology, 279, 33-77.
Malmqvist B, Rundle SD, Covich AP, Hildrew AG, Robinson CT, Townsend CR. 2008. Prospects for streams and rivers: an ecological perspective. In Aquatic systems: trends and global perspectives (ed. Polunin N., editor), 19– 29 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Myers JL, Well AD. 2003. Research Design and Statistical Analysis (2nd ed.), Lawrence Erlbaum. 508.p.
Packroff G. 2000. Protozooplankton, in acidic mining lakes with special, respect to ciliates. Hydrobiologia 433(1-3), 157-166.
Priit Z, Ingmar O. 2000. Vertical distribution of planktonic ciliates in strongly stratified temperate lakes. Hydrobiologia 435(1-3),19-26.
Roberts EC, Prisca JC, Laybourn-Parry J, 2004. Microplankton dynamics in a perennially ice-covered Antarttica, lake Hoare,Freshwater Biology 49( 7), 853-869.
Spearman C. 1904. The proof and measurement of association between two things. American Journal of Psychology 15, 72–101.
Sonntag B, Posch T, Klammer S, Griebler C, Roland BR. 2002. Protozooplancton in the deep oligotrophic taunsel(Austria),influenced by discharges of soda and salt industries. Water, air and soil pollution:focus 2(4), 211-226.
Sonntag Bettina, Summerer Monika Sommaruga Ruben, 2011.Factors involved in the distribution pattern of ciliates in the water column of a transparent alpine lake. Journal of Plankton Research 33(3), 535–540.
Summerer M, Sonntag B, Hörtnagl P, Sommaruga R. 2009. Symbiotic ciliates receive protection against UV damage from their algae: a test with Paramecium bursaria and Chlorella. Protist 160 (2), 233-43.
Takehito Y, Maiko K, Tek BG, Joaro U. 2001. Seasonal succession of zooplankton. Aquatic ecosystem 35(1),19-29.
Traian Brad, Martin Braster, Boris van Breukelen, Nico van Straalen , Wilfred Röling FM. 2008. Eukaryotic Diversity in an Anaerobic Aquifer Polluted with Landfill Leachate , Applied and Environmental microbiology 74(13), 3959–3968.
Veljo K, Priit Z. 2004. Dominance of ciliate grazing on bacteria during spring in a shallow eutrophic lake, Aquatic Microbial Ecology 22, 135-142.
Wiackowski K, Ventela AM, Moilanen M, Vesa S, Kristina VK, Sarvala T. 2001. What factors control planktonic ciliates during summer in a highly eutrophic lake? Hydrobiologia 443 (1-3), 43-57.
Woodward G, Perkins D, Lee EB. 2010. Climate change and freshwater ecosystems: impacts across multiple levels of organization. Royal Society of London Biological Sciences 12, 2093–2106.
Ajeagah Gideon, Foto Samuel, 2013. Ecological relationship between the physico-chemical variables and the dynamics of ciliated protozoa in a tropical aquatic-system (Cameroon). J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 3(5), 1-11.
Copyright © 2013 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.