Species diversity of corticolous myxomycetes in Tianmu Mountain National Nature Reserve, China

Abstract

The species diversity of corticolous myxomycetes on 4 vegetation types in the Tianmu Mountain National Natural Reserve, eastern China, was examined from 2011 to 2012. A total of 1440 moist chamber cultures were prepared with bark samples, which yielded several hundred collections representing 42 species in 20 genera. It was found that 79% of cultures produced some evidence (either plasmodia or fruiting bodies) of myxomycetes. Eight species (Comatricha elegans, Cribraria confusa, Licea pusilla, Cribraria microcarpa, Collaria arcyrionema, Licea biforis, Arcyria cinerea, and Clastoderma debaryanum) were abundant (exceeding 3% of all records), but about a third of all species were classified as rare. Species richness (S = 33) and diversity (exp[H'] = 16.60, S/G = 1.74) of corticolous myxomycetes were the most diverse in the deciduous broadleaf forest. The species recorded from coniferous forest showed the lowest species richness (S = 21) but the highest evenness (J' = 0.91). The cluster analyses were based on the Bray-Curtis similarity matrix, and the results indicated that corticolous myxomycete assemblages were distributed by a seasonal and annual pattern. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that season and pH were key factors in determining species distribution.