Testate Amoebas of Bitsevskii Les Natural and Historical Park, Moscow

For the first time in protozoology, research was carried out on the fauna of testate amoebas in a city park. One hundred and nine species and infraspecific taxa of this group of free-living protozoa were found in various types of habitats in the Bitsevskii Les Park in Moscow. To assess the species diversity of testate amoebas, samples were taken from tree hollows; small oligo-mesotrophic swamps; epiphytic mosses from tree trunks; mosses on deadwood; bottom samples from reservoirs; and soil samples near tree trunks, as well as directly in the area of the Yasenevo Estate Park. Various ecological groups of testate amoebas have been identified; the richest communities of eurybionts inhabited soils, as well as mosses on deadwood. Bottom sediments of manor ponds were inhabited mainly by hydrophilic species of the genus Difflugia.