Goal of this project is a long-term monitoring of the ciliate fauna (phylum Ciliophora) within the ephemeral waters. In puddles and ephemeral swamps live the specialists within the group of ciliates (phylum: Ciliophora). These unicellular animals are adapted well and show special life cycles. During dry phases they are able to survive for many years in cysts until rain will bring back their aquatic environment and food source. Wind can tear the soil with the cysts. As aero-plankton they easily can achieve long distances travels to reach different locations. There is a large variety of ciliates, probably many yet unknown species. They play an important role in ecology of the forests and also agriculture soils.

I wish to thank my friends and supporters for the valuable feedback:

• Dipl.-Biol. Catherine Fehse, INRES, University of Bonn, Germany
• Dr. Sebastian Hess, Institut für Zoologie, University of Cologne, Germany
• Dr. Sergio A. Muñoz-Gómez, Dalhousie University, Canada
• Office for environmental protection of the Rhein-Sieg district

Methods: Fluorescence microscopy, ecology of the ciliates