Hello there,
I am studying testate amoebae as a component of my PhD,
"Palaeoecology and the conservation management of lowland raised
bogs", in order to determine past hydrological conditions. However it
has lead me to undertake study of their contemporary 'field ecology'
since I find them quite fascinating and I also encounter them
frequently in the bryophytes I bring home to study. However, as I am
not always able to study samples the instance I bring them home I
store them in my fridge. Will this cause the counts I make to be
biased towards the ecology of my fridge as opposed to the original
habitat I removed the sample from? Unfortunately (?) I study 450
miles from my university (Southampton) and do not have access to any
specialist equipment so if any bias is incurred through fridge
storage how can I avoid this without specialist/expensive means?
I intend to publish my data as a paper at some point and it will
focus on the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland, where I live. I am also
currently doing annotated lists for some of the local Nature reserves
where I already record bryophytes. This is driven, in part, by my
desire to raise the profile of such beasties because while I like
Pandas and Whales, etc. I do get perturbed that they always steal the
limelight from less cuddly biota. Does anybody know if any one has
looked seriously at the conservation of protists yet, an area that
must surely be dogged by the lack of data we have currently
available? Or am I being naive and idealistic (again)?
Andy
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J. Andy McMullen
Buailteach, Crathie, Ballater, Aberdeenshire, AB35 5TE
Tel./fax: 013397 42453
e-mail: andy.mcmullen at zetnet.co.uk
