Nutrient availability and protist abundance in cloud forest Bromeliads, December 2006

Alternative Title

La disponibilidad de nutrientes y la abundancia de protistas en bromelias del bosque nuboso

Creator

Cierra Y. Allen

Files

Publication Date

December 2006

Abstract

Protists are microscopic organisms which play a vital role in nutrient degradation in tank bromeliads (Carrias et al. 2001). Their communities provide good subjects of study for the effects of nutrient availability in an ecosystem. One hypothesis says that the number of individuals that an ecosystem harbors is determined by the total energy that enters. This study tested the prediction that there will be a relationship between nutrient availability and abundance of protists in tank bromeliads. Data were collected among 25 bromeliads located within the Monteverde Cloud forest, Cerro Plano, Costa Rica and the following parameters were estimated: the number of protists and nutrient resources (canopy density, water volume, tank diameter, and detritus dry weight). Regressions analyses showed there were only significance between detritus weight by water volume and number of detritivores by number of photosynthetic protists. This study shows that none of the resources tested were significant in determining protist abundance in bromeliad tank communities, however, further study is needed.

Resumen

Los protistas son organismos microscópicos que desempeñan un papel vital en la degradación de nutrientes en el tanque de las bromelias (Carrias et al. 2001). Sus comunidades proporcionan buenos temas de estudio para los efectos de la disponibilidad de nutrientes en un ecosistema. Una hipótesis dice que el número de los individuos que un ecosistema abriga está determinado por la energía total que entra. Este estudio probó la predicción de que habrá una relación entre la disponibilidad y la abundancia de nutrientes de protistas en los tanques de las bromelias.

Keywords

Bromeliaceae, Protista, Natural resource management and policy, CIEE Fall 2006

Palabras claves

Manejo de recursos naturales y política, CIEE Otoño 2006

Extent

7 pages

Geographic Location

Monteverde Biological Station (Costa Rica); Cerro Plano (Puntarenas, Costa Rica)

Ubicación geográfica

Estación Biológica de Monteverde (Costa Rica)

Holding Location

Monteverde Institute

Language

English; Spanish

Media Type

Articles

Format

Digital Only

Identifier

M39-00183

Type

Book

Recommended Citation

Allen, Cierra Y., "Nutrient availability and protist abundance in cloud forest Bromeliads, December 2006" (2006). Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]. 311.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tropical_ecology/311