Characteristics of soil ciliate community and its influencing factors in three core areas of Mitika Wetland in Xizang
Soil ciliates,a part of soil protozoa,are important indicators of soil environmental quality.In order to deeply understand the characteristics of soil ciliate community and its relationship with environmental factors in Mitika Wetland,six sample plots were randomly selected from three core conservation areas in July 2019 according to the geo-graphical characteristics of Mitika Wetland in Xizang.A total of 30 soil samples were collected using the"plum blossom five-point method".Culture and morphological identification were performed by"non-submerged culture method"and"in vivo observation method".A total of 76 species of soil ciliates were identified,belonging to 9 classes,18 orders,33 fami-lies and 44 genera.Sporadotrichia was the dominant class,with 27 species,accounting for 35.5%of the total species,while Karyorelictea was the least,with only one species.C/P(0.23)<1,indicating that the soil environment of Mitika wetland is good.The diversity index showed no difference in the three core areas.The Jaccard similarity coefficient of the six plots ranged from 0.07-0.31,which was between very dissimilar and moderately dissimilar,indicating that the distri-bution of different communities varied greatly.Mantel analysis and redundancy analysis(RDA)showed that water con-tent(SWC)was the driving factor affecting the structure of soil ciliate communities.