Abstract
Mangroves are distributed among tropical and subtropical coastlines of all oceans, and associated macroflora and macrofauna are generally well studied. However, information on mangrove-associated microbiota is still scarce. To help fill this gap in knowledge, we conducted research on the occurrence of Myxomycetes in the southern coast of Pernambuco state, northeastern Brazil. In the Rio Formoso estuary, we examined adult Rhizophora mangle (Rm), Laguncularia racemosa (Lr) and Avicennia nitida (An), collecting samples of live trunk bark (Bk), twigs from aerial litter (Tg), and aerial leaf litter (Lf) for moist chamber culture (n = 600). The following species were identified: Arcyria cinerea (Rm/Tg); A. pomiformis (Rm;Lr/Bk); Collaria arcyrionema (Rm/B); Clastoderma debaryanum (Lr/Bk; Rm/Tg); Cribraria violacea (Rm/Bk;Tg); Physarum auriscalpium (Rm/Tg); P. tenerum (Rm/Bk); Stemonitis fusca (Lr/Tg); S. herbatica (Rm/Lf); S. virginiensis (Rm/Tg) and Stemonaria irregularis (An/Lf). The percentage of positive cultures was very low (24 %), with Rm as the predominant substrate with eight species and Tg as the predominant microhabitat. The majority of species are rare (60 %) and Physarum auriscalpium was the only species frequently registered. The taxonomic diversity indices ranged from 1.00 (Lf;Bk) to 1.20 (Tg). There was no similarity in the composition of myxobiota found on the substrates and microhabitats analyzed. Only S. irregularis was found in mangroves that inhabit areas of higher salinity. Physarum tenerum is reported here for the first time in the mangrove environment.
Highlights
The mangrove ecosystem represents a transition between land and marine environments in which river water meets seawater, and is characteristic of coastal tropical and subtropical regions (Schaeffer-Novelli 1995; Krug et al 2007)
Studies initiated in 2007 in the Rio Formoso municipality on the southern coast of Pernambuco resulted in the registration of 23 species and 14 genera associated with trees and shrubs typical of mangrove, including some not previously recorded in the Neotropics or in the mangrove environment (Damasceno et al 2011, 2009; Cavalcanti et al 2014). Continuing these studies, we present new records of myxomycetes on Avicennia nitida Jacq., L. racemosa and R. mangle microhabitats, thereby contributing to the increase in knowledge of myxomycetes present in ecosystems associated with the Atlantic Forest, corticolous species and those found in aerial litter
A total of 11 species, representing seven genera and five families, and all orders of Stemonitomycetidae and Myxogastromycetidae subclasses were found in Avicennia nitida, Laguncularia racemosa and Rizophora mangle microhabitats
Summary
The mangrove ecosystem represents a transition between land and marine environments in which river water meets seawater, and is characteristic of coastal tropical and subtropical regions (Schaeffer-Novelli 1995; Krug et al 2007). Brazilian mangrove myxomycetes were first registered by Bezerra et al (1999); Cavalcanti et al (2000), in which the authors identified five species associated with Rhizophora mangle L., one with Stereum hirsutum (Willd.:Fr.) S. Information on mangrove-associated microbiota is still scarce To help fill this gap in knowledge, we conducted research on the occurrence of Myxomycetes in the southern coast of Pernambuco state, northeastern Brazil. In the Rio Formoso estuary, we examined adult Rhizophora mangle (Rm), Laguncularia racemosa (Lr) and Avicennia nitida (An), collecting samples of live trunk bark (Bk), twigs from aerial litter (Tg), and aerial leaf litter (Lf) for moist chamber culture (n = 600)
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