Recent testate amoeba assemblages from the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia)

Testate amoebae are a polyphyletic group of protists characterised by a shell (‘test’). Testate amoebae have been identified in a wide range of terrestrial, freshwater and coastal habitats but are most frequently-recorded in moist, organic-rich soils. The ecology of testate amoebae has been widely-investigated in contemporary ecosystems in order to develop species-environment (‘transfer function’) models to quantify the palaeoecological record with such studies undertaken in locations from Patagonia to Alaska and Britain to China. However, knowledge of testate amoeba diversity and ecology remains geographically-biased and large areas of the global land surface have yet to receive any study at all. Beyond the potential for unrecorded taxa in these regions, such data gaps impair attempts to use testate amoebae to understand patterns of protist biogeography and to interpret past assemblages in the palaeoecological record. However, testate amoeba assemblages of the remote Kamchatka Peninsula remain uninvestigated so far. The Kamchatka Peninsula is located in the far northeast of Eurasia, between the Sea of Okhotsk to the west and the North Pacific Ocean to the east (51-60°N, ~160°E).
The data set addresses the following research questions: What are the key components of the Kamchatka testate amoeba fauna? Are there local or regional endemics? What are the key environmental controls on testate amoeba assemblage structure? Can testate amoebae provide reliable palaeohydrological proxies in Kamchatka peatlands?

有壳变形虫（Testate amoebae）是一类以具有外壳（test）为特征的多系群原生生物。该类群广泛分布于陆地、淡水与沿海生境，但最常被记录于湿润且富含有机质的土壤中。学界已在现代生态系统中针对有壳变形虫开展了大量生态学研究，旨在构建物种-环境转换函数（transfer function）模型以量化古生态记录，相关研究覆盖了从巴塔哥尼亚至阿拉斯加、从英国到中国的众多区域。然而，当前学界对有壳变形虫多样性与生态学的认知仍存在显著地理偏差，全球陆地表面的大片区域尚未开展任何相关研究。除这些区域可能存在未被记录的类群外，此类数据缺口阻碍了利用有壳变形虫探究原生生物生物地理格局，以及解读古生态记录中过往群落组合的相关研究尝试。截至目前，偏远的堪察加半岛的有壳变形虫群落仍未得到系统性研究。堪察加半岛位于欧亚大陆最东北部，西临鄂霍次克海，东濒北太平洋（北纬51°-60°，东经约160°）。
本数据集旨在回应以下核心科学问题：堪察加半岛有壳变形虫动物群的核心类群有哪些？是否存在地方性或区域性特有类群？调控有壳变形虫群落结构的关键环境因子是什么？有壳变形虫能否在堪察加半岛的泥炭地中提供可靠的古水文代用指标？