Abundance Calculation of Naked and Testate Amoebae from Soil

Protists in soil perform important functions in the decomposer cycle and plant growth and are valued bioindicators for natural and anthropogenic influences. Soil protist includes naked amoebae, testate amoebae, flagellates, and ciliates. Majorly protists in the soil exist in two trophic forms which are vegetative and encysted, that is, the resting stage. Depending upon their stage, the enumeration method for the protist varies. In order to enumerate active forms, direct counting using microscopes is preferred, whereas for encysted protists, various culture methods are reported in the literature. The present chapter has included all the methods used so far for the enumeration and abundance calculation of soil protists.