Ciało człowieka i innych zwierząt zamieszkuje bogata endogenna mikro-biota, w większości bardzo slabo poznana, odgrywająca kluczową rolę w prawidłowym ich funkcjonowaniu. Większość zwierząt odżywiających się celulozą, krwią, sokami roślinnymi, mających zdolność bioluminescencji, korzysta z usług niewidocznych sojuszników.
Species and quantitative composition of ciliate communities were compared on four-section rotating biological discs, fed frontally and gradually with sewage at 0.018, 0.054, and 0.108 m3 m-2 d-1 hydraulic loadings. The system of step feeding essentially decreased the range of variability of taxon number and ciliate numbers within the bed together with changes in the gradient of environmental conditions. The numbers and species composition of communities depended on the mean loading of the bed.
The aim of the study was to determine the correlation between ingested forage and composition of micro− fauna in the rumen of fallow deer. Rumen content of six specimens was obtained from the Bolimowska Forest during 2011/12 hunting season. Protozoa of the Entodinium and Epidinium genera belonging to the Ophryoscoleciade family were identified in analysed samples. Density of Entodinium population was positively correlated with percentage share of forage rich in starch. It was also reversely and equally strongly correlated to the share of forage rich in cellulose (p>0.05). Share of volume and biomass of Epidinium population was correlated negatively with the share of acorns in the forage (p>0.1). Differences in number and share of protozoa of the Entodinium and Epidinium genera in the rumen of fallow deer coexisting in the same place and time indicate feeding opportunism of this ruminant.