Community characteristics of soil ciliates in Mawushan Mountain of Pingliang,Gansu

From August 2007 to October 2008, an investigation was made on the community characteristics of soil ciliates in different habitats in Mawushan Mountain of Gansu Taitong-Kongtongshan National Nature Reserve. A total of 69 species belonging to 37 genera of 27 families from 10 orders of 3 classes were identified, including one unnamed species and one new record in China. There were 35 species distributed in coniferous forest, 28 species in Hippophae rhamnoides shrubland, 42 species in the ecotone of H. rhamnoides shrubland and grassland, and 20 species in cropland. Colpodida, Prostomatida and Hypotrichida were the dominant orders, and Homalogastra setosa, Cinetochilum margaritaceum, Nassulida elegans, Sathrophilus muscorum, Euplotes muscicola, and Uroleptus lepisma were the dominant species. The Gleason-Margalef species diversity index in four different habitats was 4.54, 3.55, 4.94, and 2.63, respectively. The study showed that under different soil and vegetation types, the species diversity and community structure of soil ciliates had significant differences, and the community structure of soil ciliates tended to be simplified with increasing human activities.