A comparative analysis of freshwater testate amoebae species composition between the south-eastern part of Azerbaijan and other regions of Azerbaijan

Abstract

A study of freshwater testate amoebae fauna of the Lankaran natural area of Azerbaijan was conducted from 2013 to 2018, revealing 126 testacean species belonging to 11 families. Long-term research in south-eastern regions of Azerbaijan demonstrated that the genus Difflugia dominated in all investigated freshwater reservoirs with high species diversity. Our study aimed to identify and analyze the degree of similarity in species composition of testate amoebae fauna in various investigated regions of Lankaran natural area, as well as between Lankaran and other regions of Azerbaijan. The cluster analysis and the Czekanowski index were used to compare species composition, yielding consistent results. Our analysis indicated the highest similarity between the species composition of the Lankaran region and Northern Azerbaijan. The Czekanowski index for these regions was also high (35.96 %). The analysis showed that there are 3 clusters of similarity of testate amoebae communities. One of them encompasses 2 regions (56.17 %) of Azerbaijan (south-eastern and north-eastern parts), the second combines these two points with the Absheron peninsula (52.98 %). And the third cluster covers the western region and the remaining 3 points (42.9 %).

Keywords

• south-eastern Azerbaijan
• testate amoebae
• cluster analysis
• freshwater