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Ecology of sandstone ravine myxomycetes from Saxonian Switzerland (Germany)
Abstract and Figures
We describe the ecology of a highly specialized community of ravine myxomycetes from sandstone gorges of the Saxonian Switzerland region (near Dresden, Germany). Five taxa, Colladerma robustum, Diderma ochraceum, Lamproderma columbinum, L. puncticulatum agg. and Lepidoderma tigrinum, account for 87% of all records. Colloderma robustum and Diderma lucidum are new records for Germany; Diderma ochraceum was known from a few collections only. A total of 127 small-scale vegetation releves showed that the community occurs only in deep and narrow ravines (mean horizon openness 4.9%) on nearly vertical rocks (mean inclination 79 degrees), and preferentially in northern exposition (42% of all releves). Substrate pH is very acidic (mean 3.35). At the fructification time of the myxomycetes (beginning of October) the microclimate is very constant with temperatures around 10 C and nearly 100% relative humidity around the day. Beside green algae (associated with 100% of all myxomycete records, most common was Coccomyxa confluens (Kutz.) Fott s.l.) the bryophytes Mylia taylorii (64%), Dicranodontium denudatum (59%), Tetraphis pellucida (50%) and Diplophyllum albicans (40%) were of high indicator value for this community. Low values for niche width of the five more common myxomycete species reflect the high degree of specialization for the community as a whole, whereas niche overlap between species is high. Low values for the Cole index of association can be interpreted as competition between species or, more likely, reflect the relative rarity of fruiting colonies.
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... It is currently unknown what exactly they feed on, but algae biofilms formed on the bryophyte shoots may play a significant role in their nutrition (Ing 1994). Bryophilous myxomycetes require special conditions for their development, primarily a dense moss cover which develops either on large logs of mainly coniferous trees (Ing 1994) or on the surface of limestone rocks (Schnittler et al. 2010). A distinct group of species is found on bryophytes growing on soil (Ing 1994), but in this case a soil, not a moss, may serve as feeding substrate. ...
... Lister) Hagelst., Lamproderma columbinum (Pers.) Rostaf., L. puncticulatum Härk., and several species of Licea (Schnittler et Novozhilov 1998, Schnittler et al. 2000, 2010, Rojas et al. 2015, Lloyd 2022, Novozhilov et al. 2022a. ...
... Most discoveries of typical bryophilous species have been made in humid mountainous regions (Schnittler et al. 2000, 2010, Rojas et al. 2015. In Ukraine, such conditions are only found in the Carpathians, so it is not surprising that all known records of the group originate from this area. ...
... These were the bark of living trees and shrubs; decaying, formerly solid wood in various stages of decay; decaying woody but soft plant parts with a small diameter (e.g., lianas and shoots of climbing members of the family Araceae in tropics); decaying corolla parts and bracts of inflorescences of giant herbs, with all samples obtained from living plants above ground; leafy litter, either aerial (dead but still attached plant parts) or from the forest floor; litter of fleshy herbaceous plant parts, such as shoots of members of the family Heliconiaceae; and epiphyllic liverworts on living, mostly leathery leaves of understory shrubs and trees. Schnittler et al. (2010) recorded 14 environmental parameters, including microclimatic parameters, in a study of the ecology of a highly specialized assemblage of ravine myxomycetes from sandstone gorges of the Saxonian Switzerland region (Germany). These parameters were (1) height of the myxomycete colony above ground (where the soil starts, precision 10 cm, range 0À80 m); (2) height of the locality above the valley bottom (with the rivulet taken as baseline, precision 0.5 m, range 0À80 m); (3) height of the rocks above the colony (all rocks not covered by soil, precision 0.5 m, range 0À80 m); (4) percent horizon opening, as seen with a fisheye lens (precision 1%, range 1%À100%); (5) exposition of the rock surface (in degrees from North 5 0 degrees, precision 5 degrees, range 0À360 degrees); (6) inclination of the rock surface (using a ruler and a compass with inclination scale, precision 2 degrees, range 0À180 degrees); and (7) pH (measured three times on three samples of bryophytes covered by myxomycetes using an Orion 610 pH meter with a flat surface electrode, precision 0.05 units, range 2.5À4.5 units). ...
... The ecology of this system was characterized by Schnittler et al. (2010), who suggested that algae may be a possible food source for the plasmodia. B. minutissima and C. oculatum have a remarkable preference for decorticated coniferous logs coated with unicellular algae, which form gelatinous layers. ...
In this chapter, the results obtained from recent studies of myxomycete ecology are discussed, with special emphasis on their distribution patterns in particular habitats, the relationships that exist between myxomycetes and other organisms, and the effect of disturbance events on myxomycete communities. It is important to note that most of the available data are based on collections of fruiting bodies, which probably represent (in a literal sense) only the tip of the iceberg, since it is possible that these reflect only a minor fraction of the real diversity of myxomycetes in a particular habitat. Therefore it appears unlikely that a single method will be universally applicable for assessing myxomycete diversity in all habitats and on all substrates. The approaches, techniques, and their potential limitations are discussed herein, along with recent advances (e.g., moist chamber cultures, environmental PCR, metagenomics, and barcoding attempts) that have been applied to studies of myxomycete ecology and will undoubtedly increase our understanding of myxomycete communities in the future.
... Later, Kowalski (1971) proposed that this species be regarded as a synonym of L. tigrinum, although the specimen he studied did not have the type designation and did not have the herbarium voucher listed in the protologue. Finally, Schnittler et al. (2010) provided evidence that at low pH values the lime scales may be either partially or completely absent. Under such conditions the sporocarps of L. tigrinum become almost black, which makes it very difficult to find them in nature. ...
Myxomycetes, or plasmodial slime molds, are a monophyletic group ofamoeboid protists whose classification is based mainly on morphological features of fruiting bodies. Although published phylogenies based on one or two genetic markers have clarified the boundaries of the main order-level systematic groups, the position and composition of some families and genera of myxomycetes are still a topic for discussion. In this study, we reconstructed the phylogeny of the family Didymiaceae based on three independent genetic markers: the 18S rDNA gene, the translation elongation factor 1-alpha, and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic analyses produced congruent topologies and showed that of the five major genera of the family, only species of the genus Diachea form a monophyletic clade, while the other four genera are clearly para- or polyphyletic. Species of the genus Didymium form a monophyletic clade with the only species of the genus Mucilago.The polymorphic species Lepidoderma tigrinum is clearly placed among 13 species of Diderma, including the type species of the genus. All other studied species of Lepidoderma form a separate clade together with Diderma fallax. We thus extend the latest nomenclatural revisions by disbanding the genera Mucilago and Lepidoderma, whereby the single species of Mucilago is transferred to the genus Didymium and L. tigrinum to Diderma. Extended taxon sampling allows the transfer of more nivicolous species of the former genus Lepidoderma to Polyschismium.
... OTUs of some species were recorded from the substrates that differ from their known substrate preferences. Sporocarps of Colloderma oculatum and Lepidoderma tigrinum usually occur on the layers of mosses, liverworts, and algae growing on large decorticated coniferous logs and on rocks Novozhilov, 1996, 1998;Schnittler et al., 2010). However, OTUs of C. oculatum and L. tigrinum were abundant in ground litter (present in 61% and 15% of samples, respectively) and C. oculatum as well in soil (73% of samples) of the Nizhne-Svirskiy Nature Reserve (Shchepin et al., 2019a). ...
Metagenomics could help to overcome some of the limitations of more traditional approaches in myxomycete research. It can be used to increase the taxonomic resolution of ecological studies and to explore the distribution of myxomycete trophic stages in diverse habitats both at large and small geographic scales. In this chapter, we discuss the “pros and cons” of metagenomic methods. At the end, we describe the intriguing results that are beginning to expand our understanding of myxomycete ecology and
biogeography.
... Second, C. oculatum and Le. tigrinum are considered to be bryophilous and lignicolous species since their fruiting bodies usually occur on the layers of mosses and liverworts growing on large decorticated coniferous logs and on rocks (Schnittler andNovozhilov, 1996, 1998;Schnittler et al., 2010). Fruiting bodies of both species are common in spruce forests of Leningrad region (Novozhilov, pers. ...
The diversity of dark-spored myxomycetes in forest ground litter and soil from four study plots across a fire chronosequence in Nizhne-Svirskiy Nature Reserve (northwest of Russia) was assessed by a DNA metabarcoding approach. The history of fire disturbances and the season of sampling influenced the composition of myxomycete assemblages. Several species showed substrate preferences different from what is known from fruiting body records. A high abundance of nivicolous species in the majority of the samples suggests that this ecological group constitutes a common element of soil microbial communities in lowland taiga forests. Four species are reported for the Leningrad region for the first time. Our results support the hypothesis that amoebae populations of myxomycetes may have much wider ecological niches than indicated by records of fructifications, and further environmental studies may provide valuable new insights on myxomycete ecology and distribution.
... D. ochraceum shares with D. velutinum the deep och ra ceous colour of the peridium, but differs in its reduced co lu mella, the doublelayered peridium and smaller spores (9-11 μm vs. 11-13 in D. velutinum). In addition, the spore or na men tation with densely and unevenly distributed large short warts as seen with SEM (Schnittler et al. 2010, Moreno et al. 2018) differs from more evenly distributed baculate warts of D. velutinum (Fig. 15-16). D. ochraceum var. ...
A new species, Diderma velutinum, is described and illustrated by LM and SEM micrographs. Two specimens of this species were found in moist chamber cultures on
the pieces of the bark of living tree of Phellodendron amurense, which was collected
in July 2016 and July 2017 in the Kedrovaya Pad State Nature Biosphere Reserve
(the Russian Far East). The main distinguishing features of this species are triple
peridium, large spherical columella and ochraceous colour of sporangia clustered
in dense groups. The partial 18S rRNA gene sequences of D. velutinum differ considerably from all sequences of Diderma species available to the moment.
The noncellular complex structures of fruiting body produced by a multinucleate large plasmodium are the distinct character of Myxomycetes. Although the fruiting body distinguishes myxomycetes from other amoeboid single-cell organisms, it is unclear how such complex structures arise out of a single cell. The present study investigated the detailed process of fruiting body formation in Lamproderma columbinum, the type species of the genus Lamproderma, at the cellular level. A single cell excretes cellular waste and excess water during the formation of the fruiting body by controlling its shape, secreted materials, and organelle distribution. These excretion phenomena lead to the morphology of the mature fruiting body. The results of this study suggest that the structures of the L. columbinum fruiting body are involved not merely in spore dispersal but also in the process of dehydration and self-cell cleaning of the single cell for the next generation.
Solanum is the largest genus in the family Solanaceae with about 2500 identified species
worldwide distributed, except Antarctica. This genus is regarded as economically significant
based on their multiple uses in food crops as well as ornamental and medicinal plants. In
Uzbekistan, about 24 species of Solanaceae have been reported and of these, 7 species belong to
the genus Solanum, some of which are wild while others are cultivated with their leaves, fruits,
or both eaten as raw or cooked vegetables. or used as folk medicine. However, in recent decades,
numerous fungal, fungus-like and bacterial pathogens cause diseases on the roots and collar
roots, and on the foliage of solanaceous crops. Therefore, this study initially aims to introduce
our ongoing survey, mostly focused on fungi and fungus-like organisms dwelling on cultivated,
wild, medicinal and alien invasive plant species in Uzbekistan followed by summarizing of the
results of previous studies in the region, with a special view on microbiota occurring in the
members of Solanaceae. It has been noted that there were several studies on mycobiota of natural
wild plants in Uzbekistan, and our current mycological survey is on solanaceous cultivated and
wild plant species of the same indicated study area. Field trips to urban and natural landscapes
were organized in 2021-2022. Thirty-nine fungi and fungus-like taxa (33 ascomycetous, 2
basidiomycetous, and 4 fungus-like) were reported from stems, leaves and fruits of Solanum
species. Most of these taxa belong to Sordariomycetes (9 genera and 12 species),
Dothideomycetes (6 genera and 9 species) and Eurotiomycetes (2 genera and 5 species). The
most frequent genera observed were Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fulvia, Fusarium, Leveillula,
Penicillium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia, and Verticillium. Fungi and fungus-like taxa were found
on six cultivated, medicinal and invasive species of Solanum. The number of microfungal and
oomycetes species is reported in descending order for the following host species as Solanum
lycopersicum (25 species), S. tuberosum (19 species), S. melongena (8 species); S. dulcamara,
S. nigrum and S. villosum, each has one fungal species. Furthermore, it has been observed that
fungi and fungi-like oomycete pathogens cause serious diseases of major crops such as various
cultivars of tomato, potato and eggplant in the same study area. An ongoing survey is needed
here to obtain a more precise assessment of the fungi and fungus-like pathogens. This work was
supported by the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan “Producing of digital maps of invasive and quarantine plants foci in natural landscapes” and MUK-2021-46
“R & D of bioactive polysaccharide from medicinal basidiomycetes Phellinus linteus grown in
Uzbekistan” and State scientific and technical program of Uzbekistan (Diversity, monitoring,
and creation of a database of pathogenic fungi causing diseases of economically important plants:
export fruits, vegetables, and melon crops (in the case of Namangan and Bukhara regions).
KEYWORDS: Crops, diversity, invasive alien, medicinal plants, plant diseases, Solanaceae. Poster: Yusufjon Gafforov, Shakhnoza Teshaboeva, Tutigul Kholmuradova, Trobjon Makhkamov, Nargiza Abduboyeva, Aziz Abdurazakov, Nodirali Normakhamatov, Sylvie Rapior, Soumya Ghosh.
Gafforov Y., Teshaboeva S., Kholmuradova T., Makhkamov T., Abduboyeva N., Abdurazakov A., Normakhamatov N., Rapior S. et Ghosh S.
Biodiversıty of fungi and fungus like organism on Solanum species in Uzbekistan.
3rd International Eurasian Mycology Congress (EMC’22 ; 07-09/09/2022, Van, Turquie). Book of Proceedings and Abstracts, 196-197
This chapter discusses the adaptations of myxomycetes relating to spore dispersal, which is the key to understanding distribution patterns in this group of protists. Although several groups of protists form spores, myxomycetes are the most successful group, judged by the number of species. Fruiting bodies in myxomycetes are primarily stalked to allow spores to dry out and become airborne. Compound fruiting bodies are a second evolutionary tendency to achieve spore release by means of animal vectors and have appeared parallel in several taxa. Since fruiting bodies are formed only under optimum conditions, species often have larger distribution ranges than indicated by fruiting bodies. In contrast, many morphospecies may be complexes of cryptic biological species, and these may have narrower ecological niches and thus narrower distribution ranges. In addition, molecular studies of widely distributed morphospecies provide evidence for limited gene flow within regional populations. As such, myxomycetes seem to follow the moderate endemicity model more than the ubiquist model of microbial distribution.
Molecular markers and barcoding provide novel tools to differentiate species and may link the two separate species concepts in the group, the morphospecies concept and the biospecies concept. Most likely, the number of described morphospecies of myxomycetes will increase steadily. Although field studies in myxomycetes have been carried out for more than 200 years, survey intensity is still very different for different regions of the world and the methods used (direct observations vs moist chamber cultures). The existing data indicate that species diversity patterns in myxomycetes do not follow the “decreasing latitude—increasing diversity” trend that holds true for most macroscopic organisms. Instead, hot spots for myxomycetes seem to be in southern temperate zones, especially broadleaf deciduous forests. The surprisingly distinct and diverse assemblages of myxomycetes in deserts point to precipitation as one of the major factors to explain these patterns.
In this chapter, the results obtained from recent studies of myxomycete ecology are discussed, with special emphasis on their distribution patterns in particular habitats, the relationships that exist between myxomycetes and other organisms and the effect of disturbance events on myxomycete communities. It is important to note that most of the available data are based on collections of fruiting bodies, which probably represent (in a literal sense) only the tip of the iceberg because it is possible that these reflect only a minor fraction of the real diversity of myxomycetes in a particular habitat. Therefore, it appears unlikely that a single method will be universally applicable for assessing myxomycete diversity in all habitats and on all substrates. The approaches, techniques, and their potential limitations are discussed herein, along with recent advances (e.g., moist chamber cultures, environmental PCR, metagenomics and barcoding attempts) that have been applied to studies of myxomycete ecology and will undoubtedly increase our understanding of myxomycete communities in the future.
A new succulenticolous Trichia, T. perichaenoides, very similar in habit to Perichaena corticalis, is described from decaying Agave and Opuntia. It was recorded from a number of different sites in the Old and New World (Canary Islands, Peninsular Spain and Mexico). The most important morphological or morphotaxonomic features of the new species are the sessile, clustered sporocarps with circumscissile or reticulated dehiscence, the elateriform capillitium, with very faint sinistrorse, spiny spirals only noticeable with oil immersion or SEM, and with blunt tips, and the normally double peridium with attached outgrowths.
Woody vines (lianas) are common in tropical forests, where they reach the light by using other plants for support. Myxomycetes have been recorded from both living and dead lianas, but the microhabitat represented by these plants has never been examined in detail. In the present study, samples of lianas were obtained from a number of different types of tropical forest in Australia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico. Moist chamber cultures prepared with samples from these six study areas yielded several hundred collections representing 65 species of myxomycetes, and at least 87% of all cultures produced some evidence (either Plasmodia or fruiting bodies) of these organisms. Arcyria cinerea, Diderma hemisphaericum, Didymium squamulosum, Physarum pusillum and Stemonitis fusca var. nigrescens appear to be among the more consistently abundant and widespread members of the assemblage of myxomycetes associated with lianas, but our cultures also have produced a number of noteworthy collections. Prominent examples are Perichaena dictyonema, a rare species described originally from Central Africa, Physarum hongkongense, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, Physarum melleum and Willkommlangea reticulata. In addition, the total assemblage of species we recorded includes three species (Physarum hongkongense, Stemonitis foliicola and Stemonaria gracilis) not previously known from the Neotropics along with six new records for Australia, 13 new records for Peru and 12 new records for Puerto Rico. Data are provided on the pH and water holding capacity of the samples we processed, and the ecology of lianas as a special microhabitat for myxomycetes is discussed.
The Beals smoothing function, also known as the sociological favorability index, is a data transformation for heterogeneous ecological community data. After Beals smoothing, virtually any ordination method can successfully extract the dominant patterns in the data. Presence–absence (1,0) values in the raw data matrix are replaced by continuous probabilities. The transformed value in a given cell represents the probability of a particular species occurring in a particular sample unit, based on the other species that were present in that sample unit. These probabilities are constructed from a matrix of joint occurrences between species. Beals smoothing is appropriate for heterogeneous community data sets with a large number of zeros in the data matrix (i.e. most samples contain a fairly small proportion of the species). The method may also be useful for smoothing out differences due to varying sampling intensity or where sample quality is uneven. Beals smoothing is also desirable when the data set c...
In temperate North American forests, collections were made of myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds) for which bryophytes served as the primary substrate for fruiting. Most associations among the 52 myxomycete species and 55 bryophyte species, represented in these collections, appeared to be coincidental but two species of myxomycetes ( Barbeyella minutissima and Lepidoderma tigrinum ) were evidently bryophilous, preferring leafy hepatics on rotten coniferous logs. Bryophytes obviously provide exposed surfaces convenient for myxomycete sporulation. Whether bryophytes also sustain the feeding phases of the myxomycete life-cycle (swarm cells, myxamoebae, and plasmodia) is not yet known.
The moist chamber culture technique was used to study the ecology of myxomycetes from a winter-cold desert of the Caspian Lowland (Russia). The rank-abundance plot is best described by the models of geometric and logarithmic distribution and less by MacArthur model of broken stick. Texture of the plant bark is one of the main factors that effect the biodiversity of epiphytic species. It was found that the average width of the ecological niche for the factors of microhabitat (pH and type of substrate) was less than for the factors of the whole habitat (light and wind exposure). Species occurring on the bark of plants are characterized by narrower ecological niche than the species occurring on leaf litter and decayed wood. For different species there have been registered differences in speed of sporophore development. The pairs of species with high positive association were revealed. Species composition of myxomycetes of the northwestern Caspian Lowland is very similar to that of the other arid regions of the world.
The heart of the PC-ORD system is a group of Fortran programs for multivariate analysis on the MS-DOS family of microcomputers. Analytical features include ordinations (detrended correspondence analysis, Bray-Curtis ordination, principal components analysis, and reciprocal averaging), descriptive statistics, and diversity indices. -from Author
A new myxomycete species, Cribraria zonatispora Lado, Mosquera et Beltran-Tej., is described on the basis of collections from the Canary Islands and Mexico. Its unusual habitat on the inner veins of decayed cladodia of Opuntia spp, is documented. This species is distinguished from all other myxomycete taxa by its unique spores which have an equatorial depressed cingulum. Sporocarp morphogenesis of C. zonatispora is described based on moist chamber cultures. Comments on distribution and ecology are included.