Myxomycetes appearing in moist chamber cultures on samples of bark and wood collected from coarse woody debris

Abstract

The species associated with coarse woody debris make up the best known ecological assemblage of myxomycetes, but most records are based on fruiting bodies that have formed in the field under natural conditions and not from samples of bark and wood placed in moist chamber cultures. In this study, samples of bark and wood from pieces of coarse woody debris on the forest floor were collected and used to prepare a series moist chamber cultures. All of the 30 cultures prepared with wood and 29 of the 30 (97%) of the cultures prepared with bark were positive for myxomycetes. Thirty-three different species representing 14 genera were recovered, with 21 species (14 genera) recorded for bark and 22 species (11 genera) recorded for wood. These data indicate that any effort to carry out a truly comprehensive survey of the myxomycetes present at a given locality should include examining samples of coarse woody debris with the moist chamber culture technique.