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Myxomycete plasmodium and fruiting in MC, (A) white plasmodium occurring on twigs, (B) fruiting bodies of Arcyria cinerea, (C) fruiting bodies of Diderma chondrioderma, (D) fruiting bodies of Cribraria microcarpa, (E) fruiting bodies of Stemonaria gracilis, (F) fruiting bodies of Clastoderma debaryanum
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Myxomycetes live on litter twigs and form a distinctive habitat in forests. However, little is known about such myxomycetes found on forest floors. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the characteristics of myxomycete communities residing on different litter twigs from ten different tree species that comprised the forest canopy in western Japa...
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Context 1
... plasmodium ( Fig. 2A) Each tree species yielded 5-17 myxomycete species (species and varieties) and a total of 42 species were identified. The α-diversity of community (H՛) ranged from 1.39-2.45 and equitability (J՛) was 0.71-0.98 across trees. The exactitude for surveys ranged from 31.8-93.8% across the trees (Table 1). This implied that the species ...
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... species were identified along with the number of colonies in the ten tree species (Table 2), of which 11 species recorded five or more colonies (relative abundance ≥ 1.8%). The most abundant species of myxomycetes was Arcyria cinerea (Bull.) Pers. (Fig. 2B), representing ...
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... all colonies on eight tree species, followed by Diderma chondrioderma (de Bary & Rostaf.) G. Lister (Fig. 2C) that represented 14.9% of all colonies on nine tree species, Cribraria microcarpa (Schrad.) Pers. (Fig. 2D) An additional five species were recorded with five or more ...
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The seasonal occurrence and distribution of myxomycetes on different types of newly defoliated leaf litter were examined in a secondary forest in a warm temperate region of western Japan. The two types of leaf litter (deciduous trees, Prunus verecunda and Quercus variabilis, and evergreen trees, Q. glauca and Cinnamomum camphora) were incubated in...
Citations
... A definite group of myxomycetes found on litter twigs as suitable habitats compared to the approximately 1000 morphospecies known today (Lado, 2005(Lado, -2023. There are morphospecies of 17 taxa from 90 MCs on Prunus x yedoensis litter twigs in a region of western Japan (Takahashi et al., 2022). The present study identified 35 taxa on cherry blossom litter twigs from 440 MCs across the country, which is richer than that reported in previous studies. ...
... Several studies have reported that pH differences in substrates greatly affect myxomycete colonization (Everhart et al., 2008;Wrigley de Basanta et al., 2008;Scarborough et al., 2009;Takahashi, 2014;Takahashi et al., 2018). Myxomycetes living on litter twigs are influenced by tree types associated with differences in twig pH, and establish distinctive suitability for litter twigs (Takahashi et al., 2022). However, our study did not report that substrate pH drives myxomycete distribution, possibly because of the narrow range of pH observed (4.5-6.2) in only one tree species. ...
Myxomycetes are amoeboid protists that inhabit forest litter twigs. However, little is known about the diversity and distribution of myxomycetes inhabiting litter twigs in anthropogenic environments. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal the species diversity and biogeographical characteristics of myxomycetes living on the litter twigs of cherry blossom trees planted in parks and green areas across the Japanese archipelago. A total of 22 sites along a north-south gradient from Aomori Prefecture to Kagoshima Prefecture were surveyed using the moist chamber culture method to the litter twigs. Myxomycete fruiting colonies occurred in 35% of the 440 moist chamber cultures, and 385 fruiting colonies were recorded. Resulting 35 myxomycete taxa belonging to 19 genera were identified. The two most abundant species, Arcyria cinerea and Stemonitis fusca var. rufescens, accounted for over 10% of the total colonies and were frequently found in more than 73% of the surveyed sites. Species richness and diversity tended to decrease with annual mean temperature. The myxomycete assemblages grouped into six temperature grades were analyzed using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and ordinated. The NMDS second axis scores correlated with the annual mean temperature grade and myxomycete diversity. Species such as Lamproderma scintillans, Stemonitis nigrescens, and Stemonaria gracilis were found to be characteristic of warm regions, whereas A. cinerea and S. fusca var. rufescens were biased toward cool regions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the diversity and biogeographical patterns of myxomycetes in litter twigs, which were found to be influenced by an environmental temperature gradient.
... A definite group of myxomycetes found on litter twigs as suitable habitats compared to the approximately 1000 morphospecies known today (Lado, 2005(Lado, -2023. There are morphospecies of 17 taxa from 90 MCs on Prunus x yedoensis litter twigs in a region of western Japan (Takahashi et al., 2022). The present study identified 35 taxa on cherry blossom litter twigs from 440 MCs across the country, which is richer than that reported in previous studies. ...
... Several studies have reported that pH differences in substrates greatly affect myxomycete colonization (Everhart et al., 2008;Wrigley de Basanta et al., 2008;Scarborough et al., 2009;Takahashi, 2014;Takahashi et al., 2018). Myxomycetes living on litter twigs are influenced by tree types associated with differences in twig pH, and establish distinctive suitability for litter twigs (Takahashi et al., 2022). However, our study did not report that substrate pH drives myxomycete distribution, possibly because of the narrow range of pH observed (4.5-6.2) in only one tree species. ...
Myxomycetes are amoeboid protists that inhabit forest litter twigs. However, little is known about the diversity and distribution of myxomycetes inhabiting litter twigs in anthropogenic environments. Therefore, this study aimed to reveal the species diversity and biogeographical characteristics of myxomycetes living on the litter twigs of cherry blossom trees planted in parks and green areas across the Japanese archipelago. A total of 22 sites along a north-south gradient from Aomori Prefecture to Kagoshima Prefecture were surveyed using the moist chamber culture method to the litter twigs. Myxomycete fruiting colonies occurred in 35% of the 440 moist chamber cultures, and 385 fruiting colonies were recorded. Resulting 35 myxomycete taxa belonging to 19 genera were identified. The two most abundant species, Arcyria cinerea and Stemonitis fusca var. rufescens, accounted for over 10% of the total colonies and were frequently found in more than 73% of the surveyed sites. Species richness and diversity tended to decrease with annual mean temperature. The myxomycete assemblages grouped into six temperature grades were analyzed using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and ordinated. The NMDS second axis scores correlated with the annual mean temperature grade and myxomycete diversity. Species such as Lamproderma scintillans, Stemonitis nigrescens, and Stemonaria gracilis were found to be characteristic of warm regions, whereas A. cinerea and S. fusca var. rufescens were biased toward cool regions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the diversity and biogeographical patterns of myxomycetes in litter twigs, which were found to be influenced by an environmental temperature gradient.
... We assessed the myxomycetes on Yakushima Island in the present study using the moist chamber culture method, which can be used for producing myxomycete fruiting bodies on twig litter collected from the forest floor and allows for microscopic observations in a laboratory (Stephenson 1989). Takahashi et al. (2022) found many myxomycetes on the twigs of 10 tree species in the forests of West Japan using moist chambers. Yakushima Island, which is a World Natural Heritage site, is also called the Ocean Alps, and both vertically and geographically comprise different forest vegetation types. ...
... A previous study has suggested that temperature influences myxomycete distribution in the Japanese archipelago (Takahashi et al. 2018). Furthermore, myxomycete communities depend on substrate differences between tree species (Takahashi et al. 2009, Takahashi et al. 2022. Myxomycete diversity decrease and is limited in the cloud forests located at high altitudes in Costa Rica, Central America, because of excess humidity (Schnittler and Stephenson 2000). ...
... Substrate pH has a strong influence on the growth of myxomycetes (e.g., Everhart et al. 2008, Takahashi 2014. Myxomycete communities on twig litters of 10 tree species are affected by substrate pH in the forests of the Chugoku and Shikoku regions in western Japan (Takahashi et al. 2022). In this study, the difference in twig pH also affected a variety of myxomycetes, which tended to become richer with substrate pH increasing to neutral in the analysis of 19 communities from seven tree species. ...
Our knowledge of the ecological features of myxomycetes of the Yakushima Island World Natural Heritage site is poor. The present study assessed myxomycetes living on twig litter in Yakushima Island using the moist chamber culture method and focused on their distribution and association with different forest types. The survey was conducted along an altitudinal gradient from the coast to the montane forest (1360 m). Fallen twigs were sampled from the forest floor surface beneath representative dominant tree species at each survey site. Nineteen twig samples from seven tree species were cultured in dishes for a total of 380 cultures, of which 54% culture dishes yielded myxomycete fruiting colonies. In total, 35 myxomycete species in 15 genera were identified from 19 myxomycete communities. Ordination using non-metric multidimensional scaling indicated a significant correlation between community structure and twig pH. Four different forest types classified according to elevation separated into different myxomycete community structures, with species richness and abundance decreasing with increasing elevation. Species diversity was the highest in the coastal subtropical vegetation community, while the montane forest that comprised Cryptomeria japonica trees had lower species diversity. Subtropical vegetation characteristically involved four species, Comatricha tenerrima, Lamproderma scintillans, Perichaena depressa, and Ophiotheca chrysosperma, but Cribraria microcarpa preferentially occurred in the montane forests. The dominant trees in the forests apparently affected the myxomycete communities on twig litter. The new distribution data generated through this study provide a better understanding of the spatial composition of myxomycetes on Yakushima Island.
Myxomycete distribution along urban–rural gradients remains to be studied in detail. The ancient plant Metasequoia glyptostroboides has been mainly planted in urban parks and green areas in Japan, and it provides new habitats for myxomycetes on its growing tree bark. Here, we examined myxomycetes on bark along urbanization gradients, estimated by land-use coverage types. Survey sites were selected at 20 locations in western Japan, where the bark was sampled from 10 trees at each site. The bark samples were cultured in 10 Petri dishes per tree using the moist chamber technique. Myxomycete fruiting colonies occurred in 71% of cultures, and 44 species were identified across surveys. Diderma chondrioderma occurred at all sites, with the next most abundant species being Licea variabilis and Perichaena vermicularis. Twenty-two myxomycete communities ordinated using non-metric multidimensional scaling showed a significant negative correlation with building coverage and bark pH, increasing along the first axis. Relative abundances of Physarum crateriforme and Licea biforis positively correlated with increasing building coverage. Overall, urbanization causes alternation of the myxomycete community structure without diversity loss, and intermediate urbanization diversified species diversity on M. glyptostroboides tree bark.
