An initial account of the terrestrial Protozoa of Ascension Island

Abstract

tend to be cosmopolitan species with wide habitat tolerances (e.g. many are also found in polar regions). The testate amoebae are missing the larger (>150 µm) taxa, suggesting these may show dispersal limitation. There is evidence that compared to an area of continental land mass the protozoan fauna may be relatively species poor, however unlike the case with the macroscopic organisms, there is no evidence for endemic species on this island. These results are discussed in the context of microbial biogeography, especially in the context of debates over the claimed cosmopolitan nature of microbial distributions.