Myxomycetes in a forest affected by great cormorant colony: a case study in Western Lithuania

Abstract

Myxomycete distribution patterns were investigated in a colony of great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) established in a pine forest in the Curonian Spit, western Lithuania. Ornithogenic impact on the forest resulted both in vegetation changes and altered types and characteristics of myxomycete substrata. The lowest myxomycete species richness was found in the most active part of the colony with the newest and most numerous nests. The myxomycete assemblages of the active part of the colony also showed the biggest differences from the reference zone (oligotrophic pine forest). The general abundance of myxomycetes in the territory of the colony was higher due to the presence of the species that are not characteristic of pine forests. The most abundant species in the territory were Badhamia apiculospora and Perichaena cf. corticalis. Along with other facultative coprophiles, such rare species as Comatricha mirabilis and Arcyria leiocarpa were found sporulating in the colony. The Bray-Curtis ordination revealed a tripole gradient of myxomycete distribution in the colony. It was hypothesized that the first continuum may reflect myxomycete assemblage transition from hypertrophic to oligotrophic habitat; the second continuum may reflect myxomycete assemblage distribution from habitats with limited diversity of available substrata, extreme levels of nutrients and high pH to habitats with high diversity of available substrata, moderate to high levels of nutrients and pH, and the third continuum may reflect myxomycete assemblage distribution from habitats with lower diversity of available substrata, low levels of nutrients and pH to habitats with high diversity of available substrata, moderate to high levels of nutrients and pH.