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New and rare Myxomycetes of Ukraine 3. Forest and Forest-Steppe zone
Abstract
During the 2003–2010 summer-autumn seasons, myxomycete biodiversity was investigated in six National Nature Parks situated in forest and forest-steppe zone of Ukraine. Eight species and one variety were found as new for Ukraine; additional records were made for two species estimated as rare for the country. Descriptions, localities, information on substrata and microphotographs are presented for all these species.
The new form Physarum globuliferum f. flavum Leontyev & Dudka is described on the basis of material collected in spruce forest in Synevyr National Nature Park (East Carpathians) and hornbeam forest in Podilski Tovtry National Nature Park (West Forest-Steppe region). It differs from the type form of the species by the bright golden-yellow colour of the stalk and lime nodes of the capillitium.
... However, all findings date back to the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries (Krupa 1889, Jarocki 1931, Krzeminiewska 1934. Despite a notable upswing in myxomycetological research in Ukraine over the past two decades (Dudka et Kryvomaz 1996, Romanenko 2001, Kryvomaz 2004, Leontyev et al., 2012, 2020, Kochergina et Markina 2021, no recent records of bryophilous species have been made so far. ...
... Some authors have considered this species as a variety of Stemonitis splendens (Lister 1894, 1911, 1925, Nannenga Bremekamp 1974, 1991, others as a synonym of S. splendens (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Neubert et al. 2000, Lado 2005-2019. Recently Leontyev et al. (2012) have treated it at variety rank within S. splendens. However, Stemonitis splendens has a capillitium without intricate branches parallel to the columella and without abundant membranous expansions (Moreno et al. 2004). ...
Light-and scanning electron microscopy are applied to reassess diagnostic characters of type specimens and critical specimens of species in the genera Stemonitis and Symphytocarpus (Stemonitales, Myxomycetes) from the collections of the Natural History Museum London (BM). The results are used to discuss published data and the type status for specimens of Stemonitis ferruginea, S. flavogenita, S. herbatica, S. inconspicua, S. morganii, S. pallida, S. smithii, S. uvifera, S. virginien-sis, S. webberi, Symphytocarpus amaurochaetoides, S. confluens, S. flaccidus and S. herbaticus. Due to severe shortcomings of the original description and the absence of preserved original material we regard S. axifera (Bull.) Macbride as a nomen ambiguum and propose to re-adopt the use of S. ferruginea as the valid name for the common taxon S. axifera auct. (non (Bull.) T.Macbr.). SEM characters support the treatment of Stemonitis smithii as a synonym of S. ferruginea. Stemonitis webberi instead is shown to be well separated from S. splendens by several independent characters. The importance of SEM characters for the correct identification of critical specimens of Stemonitis ferruginea, S.pallida and S. webberi is highlighted and accurate spore measurements based on SEM images are provided for all species.
MORENO, G., A. SÁNCHEZ & A. CASTILLO (2023). Paradiacheopsis rigida (Myxo mycetes) a misinterpreted species. Bol. Soc. Micol. Madrid 47: 3-8. A rare species of Paradiacheopsis is described and illustrated herein. It is compared with other species in the genera Comatricha. We provide micrographs of the most important characters as observed under LM and SEM. Its combination with Comatricha rigida is proposed.
First records of silica-scaled chrysophyte alga for the Leningrad Region and NorthWest of European Russia, fungi for the Pskov and Novosibirsk regions, and the Republic of Tuva,
myxomycetes for the Republic of Belarus, lichens for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and West
Siberia, liverworts for the Kurgan Region, mosses for the Republic of North Ossetia — Alania, the
Taimyr Peninsula, the Chukotka Autonomous Area, and the Kamchatka Territory from the North
Koryakia are presented. The data on their localities, habitats, distribution, and specimens are provided. The specimens are kept in the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (LE), the
Herbarium of M. G. Popov at the Central Siberian Botanical Garden RAS (NSK), or the Herbarium
of the Kuprevich Institute of Experimental Botany NAS of Belarus (MSK-F).
Taxonomic spectra, i.e. relations between supraspecific taxa by the number of included species, remain poorly understood in aspect of the mathematical properties. We studied taxonomic spectra of plants (Magnoliophyta, Bryophyta), animals (Coleoptera, Aves), fungi (Agaricomycetes) and terrestrial protists (Myxomycetes), found in the Homilsha Forests National Nature Park (North-East of Ukraine), and concluded that they correspond to the hollow-curve distribution at the level of genera, families and orders. The spectra of most taxa, as shown by the Akaike information criterion, are closely approximated by the log-series distribution model at all taxonomic levels. This type of distribution is typical for the species abundance curves, based on collections made from small areas. At the same time, in the genera–families–orders row the similarity to the lognormal distribution increases. The central values and variability vary considerably between different taxonomic groups and ranks, however, without affecting the type of distribution. The number of orders in all taxa except Bryophyta has reached the saturation and coincides with the curve of the estimated number of orders according to the Chao1 coefficient. For families and especially genera the correspondence with estimated number of species is much lower. Our results do not confirm the assumption that hollow-curve distributions of taxonomic spectra result from the artificial fragmentation of taxa. These distributions neither depend on the insufficient knowledge about the species composition at the locality, nor reflect the size of the studied area. The presence of such distributions in both local and global biota of different groups may be explained by the common features of their evolution, especially by the existence of relict orphan groups. The fact that in Homilsha Forests the kurtosis and skewness of distributions decreases in the genera–families–orders row can therefore be explained by the relatively low percentage of the high-rank orphan taxa in the local biota. This may be a common feature of communities studied at small geographical scale, since orphan taxa often demonstrate a high level of endemism. Comparative studies of local communities from different climate zones may help to understand how universal are the patterns, described herein.
Corticulous myxomycetes remain one of the least surveyed ecological groups of terrestrial protists. These organisms develop on the bark of trees, mostly feeding on bacteria and microalgae. Their microscopic size and fast developmental cycle (3–5 days) complicate the study of these organisms, and therefore data their on ecological relationships and patterns of biodiversity corticulous myxomycetes remain controversial. On the territory of the southwest spurs of the Central Russian Upland (Northeast Ukraine), no special studies on these organisms have been conducted. During 2017–2020, in nine forest sites located in this territory, we collected samples of bark of 16 species of tree plants, on which sporulating myxomycetes were then identified using the moist chamber technique in laboratory conditions. A total of 434 moist chambers was prepared, and 267 (61.5%) of which were found to contain myxomycete fruiting bodies. In total, we made 535 observations, finding 20,211 sporocarps. As a result, in the surveyed territory, we found 38 species of corticulous myxomycetes, belonging to 18 genera, 10 families, 7 orders, and 2 subclasses of Myxomycetes. Among the species of corticulous myxomycetes, the most abundant were Echinostelium minutum, Arcyria pomiformis, Macbrideola cornea, Perichaena chrysosperma, Licea kleistobolus, Paradiacheopsis fimbriata, Cribraria violacea, Enerthenema papillatum, A. cinerea, and L. operculata. The greatest species richness in the examined biota was observed for genera Comatricha, Licea, Paradiacheopsis and Perichaena, families Amaurochaetaceae and Trichiaceae, orders Stemonitidales, Trichiales and Physarales. By species diversity, dark-spored myxomycetes (Collumellomycetidae) somewhat exceeded bright-spored myxomycetes (Lucisporomycetidae). Badhamia versicolor, Didymium dubium, D. sturgisii, Macbrideola decapillata, and Perichaena luteola are new species for the surveyed area. Four species of myxomycetes were collected in Ukraine for the first time: Hemitrichia pardina, Licea floriformis, L. pygmea, and Macbrideola argentea. Quantitative and qualitative structure of myxomycete consortia developing on different species of substrate-forming plants demonstrated significant differences. The highest level of similarity was demonstrated by Fraxinus excelsior and Acer platanoides, and a relatively strong relationship was seen between Pinus sylvestris and Tilia cordata. The central cluster comprised F. excelsior, A. platanoides and P. sylvestris. By the sum of values of Bray-Curtis coefficient, Quercus robur appeared to be most distinctive plant species by quantitative composition of myxomycete consortia. F. excelsior and T. cordata are the most favourable for the development of corticulous myxomycetes. In all the analyzed consortia, the dominant species belonged to the Stemonitidales and Trichiales orders, while the remaining orders were represented by notably fewer species. Relative species richness of Stemonitidales was the highest in consortia of P. sylvestris, the contribution of Liceales was the greatest in A. platanoides and P. sylvestris, the percentage of Echinosteliales and Physarales was the highest on F. excelsior, the share of Cribrariales was especially large on A. platanoides. Trichiales were represented on all the analyzed substrates to almost the same extent. Representatives of Cribrariales and Physarales were completely absent on P. sylvestris, the species of Clastodermatales – on all species of plants, except Q. robur. Prevalence of bright-spored myxomycetes was determined for consortia of Acer platanoides, the dominance of dark-spored myxomycetes – for F. excelsior, P. sylvestris and Q. robur. The obtained data indicate the presence of stable complexes of corticulous myxomycetes, associated with different species of trees in the forest ecosystems of Northeast Ukraine. This encourages further study of the structure of myxomycete consortia with tree species that were not included in this study and determining the influence of physical-chemical properties of the bark of different plant species on the discovered peculiarities of myxomycete communities.
The traditional classification of the Myxomycetes (Myxogastrea) into five orders (Echinosteliales, Liceales, Trichiales, Stemonitidales and Physarales), used in all monographs published since 1945, does not properly reflect evolutionary relationships within the group. Reviewing all published phylogenies for myxomycete subgroups together with a 18S rDNA phylogeny of the entire group serving as an illustration, we suggest a revised hierarchical classification, in which taxa of higher ranks are formally named according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants. In addition, informal zoological names are provided. The exosporous genus Ceratiomyxa, together with some protosteloid amoebae, constitute the class Ceratiomyxomycetes. The class Myxomycetes is divided into a bright-and a dark-spored clade, now formally named as subclasses Lucisporomycetidae and Columellomycetidae, respectively. For bright-spored myxomycetes, four orders are proposed: Cribrariales (considered as a basal group), Reticulariales, a narrowly circumscribed Liceales and Trichiales. The dark-spored myxomycetes include five orders: Echinosteliales (considered as a basal group), Clastodermatales, Meridermatales, a more narrowly circumscribed Stemonitidales and Physarales (including as well most of the traditional Stemonitidales with durable peridia). Molecular data provide evidence that conspicuous morphological characters such as solitary versus compound fructifications or presence versus absence of a stalk are overestimated. Details of the capillitium and peridium, and especially how these structures are connected to each other, seem to reflect evolutionary relationships much better than many characters which have been used in the past.
Seventy-seven species of myxomycetes were found in the oak and pine forests of the National Nature Park Slobozhanskiy (North-Eastern Ukraine). Among them, Arcyria imperialis, Didymium ovoideum, Lamproderma gulielmae, Trichia subfusca, Oligonema fulvum and Physarum spectabile are new for Ukraine. The specimen, preliminary identified as Arcyria cf. bulbosa, may represent a new species.
As a result of the National Nature Park "Oleshkivski Pisky" microbiota study, 112 species of fungi and fungi-like protists were found: 18 species are slime molds, 1 – Zygomycota, 32 – Ascomycota and 61 – Basidiomycota representatives. Among them 14 species are fungicolous, 2 – myxomyceticulous and 1 – lichenicolous. Fungicolous species Hypomyces albidus Rehm in anamorphous stage Cladobotryum sphaerocephalum (Berk.) Rogerson et Samuels and myxomycete Amaurochaete tubulina (Alb. et Schwein.) T. Macbr. are registered in Ukraine for the first time. An interesting record is Patellaria crassispora H.- O. Baral, nomen provisum, which was also not known in Ukraine till now. We assume that ascigenous sporification of Mycosphaerella sp., found by us on overwintered needles of Pinus palassiana D. Don, probably is a still undescribed teleomorph of Dothistroma pini Hulbary. Slime mould Stemonitopsis microspora (Lister) Nann.-Bremek. registered in the
steppe zone of Ukraine for the first time.
Biota of Myxomycota in National nature park Gomolsha Forests was investigated. A total of near 1000 records belonging to 133 species from 33 genera, 9 families and 6 orders were found. Among them, 31 species are new to Ukraine, 46 are new for forest-steppe zone of the country, and 22 are new for Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Among the orders, Physarales includes the biggest number of species, Stemonitales is richest of genera; among families Trichiaceae and Physaraceae lead in the number of species, and Stemonitidaceae - in the number of genera. Among genera, Physarum, Arcyria, Trichia, Cribraria, Didymium and Stemonitis demonstrate the highest species richness. Species are distributed in genera geometrically (χ2 = 0.20, p 0.904). The generic spectrum is characterized by a significant variety (H = 4.52) and low degree of dominance (D = 0.05). Ten leading genera unite 63.9 % of species. That is characteristic for a nemoral zone and corresponds to an average level of biota complexity.
Slime molds diversity survey in the Parque Estadual das Dunas do Natal, a conservation area of coastal dune forest in Rio Grande do Norte and part of Biosphere reserve of Brazilian Atlantic Forest, resulted on the recording of Paradiacheopsis longipes Hoof & Nann.-Bremek., new occurrence for Brazil and second for the neotropical region. Besides P. curitibana Hertel, only known in the locality type, in Curitiba, PR, this genus was not registered before in Brazil. P. longipes is illustrated and comments about the most relevant taxonomic characters are made.
During the 2006–2008 summer–autumn seasons, the myxomycete biodiversity was investigated
in Gomolsha Forests National Nature Park and neighbouring territories of the
East Forest-Steppe area of Ukraine. Several earlier collections (2002-2004) were also reexamined.
Four species found appeared to be new for Ukraine, six others were estimated
as rare for the country. Descriptions, microphotographs, localities and information on
substrata are presented for these species.
A comprehensive checklist of the species of myxomycetes known from Africa does not exist, and the reported records are found in various sources scattered throughout the literature. In the study described herein, an effort was made to compile all known records of African myxomycetes from published articles, reports and databases. Our initial findings indicate that there are 294 species representing 49 genera reported from or known to occur in Africa. Of the 58 countries and territories on the entire continent, no records of myxomycetes apparently exist for 27 countries. A complete annotated species list is provided at http://www.mycotaxon.com/africamyxomycetes2.
A survey of 1488 records of myxomycetes found within a mountain taiga-dry steppe vegetation gradient has identified 161 species and 41 genera from the southeastern Altay mountains and adjacent territories of the high Ob' river basin. Of these, 130 species were seen or collected in the field and 59 species were recorded from moist chamber cultures. Data analysis based on the species accumulation curve estimates that 75-83% of the total species richness has been recorded, among which 118 species are classified as rare (frequency < 0.5%) and 7 species as abundant (> 3% of all records). Among the 120 first species records for the Altay Mts. are 6 new records for Russia. The southeastern Altay taiga community assemblages appear highly similar to other taiga regions in Siberia but differ considerably from those documented from arid regions. The complete and comprehensive illustrated report is available at http://www.Mycotaxon.com/resources/weblists.html.
A biodiversity survey for myxomycetes was carried out in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) in late January and early February 2005. Specimens were collected from six National Parks, located in five different provinces between 39° and 55°S latitude. Nothofagus forests represented the primary vegetation type investigated, but Valdivian temperate rainforests also were included in the survey, as were coniferous forests dominated by species of Araucaria, Astrocedrus and Fitzroya. More than four hundred (442) specimens of myxomycetes representing 67 different species in 23 genera were collected either in the field, or from moist chamber cultures prepared with samples of bark and litter obtained from the same collecting sites. The total species list generated from both the field and laboratory components of the survey includes six new records for South America and 13 new records for Argentina. Two species of the genus Diderma, D. gracile and D. robustum, described originally from Tierra del Fuego 35 years ago and not reported since, were among the more interesting collections. A third species of the genus, D. antarcticum, found only once since its description in 1887, was found for the third time in the world during the survey. These collections were compared to the type material deposited in La Plata, Argentina (LPS) and the first photographs of these species by LM and SEM are included. Ecological comments are made on how macroenvironmental factors as well as microhabitats, influence patterns of myxomycete distribution.
A synthesis of the accumulated knowledge on myxomycetes recorded from the Neotropical region is presented in this paper. The biodiversity of these microorganisms in the Neotropics has been underestimated, and this paper shows that half the known species in the world have been recorded from the region. The monograph by M.L Farr, for the series Flora Neotropica, published in 1976, has been taken as a baseline. The records produced after this date, some older obscure records, and data from recently published catalogues, monographs and other papers have been incorporated. The information is presented in a table format by species and countries. Species names are listed with synonyms that have been used in Neotropical literature and nomenclature has been updated. A comprehensive list of references by country has been included. A characteristic assemblage of myxomycetes from the Neotropics has been identified. The richness of myxobiota in different countries has been evaluated, and gaps in current information and unexplored areas have become evident from the results. Use of the compiled information to direct conservation plans, and to serve as a starting point to establish and develop future strategies for the study of myxomycetes in this area of the world, is discussed. The importance of prioritizing this research on microorganismal biodiversity, in view of accelerated habitat destruction, is stressed.
Although species lists for particular localities have been compiled by numerous workers, relatively few biogeographical studies of myxomycetes (plasmodial moulds) have been carried out. In the present study, the data represented by a total of 3788 collections of myxomycetes made during the period of 1954-90 from two study areas in the mid-Appalachians of eastern North America and study areas in northwestern and southern India were analysed to obtain information on the biogeographical relationships and patterns of occurrence of these organisms. The climate of the study area in southern India is tropical/subtropical, whereas both study areas in eastern North America and the one in north western India have a temperate climate. Based on coefficient of community indices calculated for all possible combinations of the four different data sets, southern India had the lowest overall similarity (mean index = 0.322) to the other study areas. Members of the Physarales made up a much greater proportion (63%) of the collections from southern India than elsewhere, whereas members of the Liceales were conspicuously under-represented when compared to the other study areas. The majority of collections (> 63%) from southern India occurred on leaf litter and other types of non-woody plant debris, whereas > 80% of all collections from eastern North America and north western India were made from woody substrates. These results suggest that myxomycetes show recognizable patterns of latitudinal variation not unlike those described for many other groups of organisms. Not only is the assemblage of species found in tropical/subtropical regions of the world distinctly different from that of temperate regions, but the species present also exhibit quite different patterns of distribution with respect to the types of substrates upon which they typically occur.
This work serves as a checklist of the myxomycetes of Hunan Province, China. In addition we report 76 taxa new for Hunan, including the following 13 taxa new to China: Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa (F. Muell.) T. Macbr. var. descendens Emoto, Clastoderma microcarpum (Meyl.) Kowalski, Colloderma oculatum (Lippert) G. Lister, Comatricha ellae Härk., Diderma umbilicatum Pers., L. pygmaea (Meyl.) Ing., L. rugosa Nann.-Bremek. & Y. Yamam., Macbrideola argentea Nann.-Bremek. & Y. Yamam., M. scintillans H. C. Gilbert var. scintillans, M. scintillans var. verrucosa (Nann.-Bremek. & Y. Yamam.) Y. Yamam., Paradiacheopsis fimbriata var. penicillata (Nann.-Bremek. & Y. Yamam.) Y. Yamam., P. longipes Hoof & Nann.-Bremek., and Trichia munda (Lister) Meyl. The number of myxomycete species reported from Hunan Province is now 90.