A comparative species listing of myxomycetes from tropical (Philippines) and temperate (United States) forests

Abstract

In terms of their flora and fauna, tropical forests are generally reported to be characterized by higher species diversity than temperate forests. Can this also be true for microorganisms such as myxomycetes? In the present study, three lowland tropical forests in the Philippines and three midlatitude temperate forests in north central Arkansas in the United States were surveyed for myxomycetes with the moist chamber technique as it applies to these organisms. Results indicated that more species of myxomycetes were associated with samples of aerial litter (dead but still attached plant parts), forest floor litter and woody twigs collected in Arkansas than for those collected in the Philippines. A higher value for taxonomic diversity also was noted for the temperate forests. However, 19 species listed herein are new records for the Philippines. In the present study, a comparison of the taxonomic diversity of myxomycetes in relation to the number of moist chamber replications was carried out, and this showed that a difference of as many as eight species could occur between what was recorded from a single culture and a series of three cultures prepared from the same sample. Clearly, many of these species could be missed if only a single culture is prepared for a particular sample.