Occurrence of leaf litter inhabiting myxomycetes from lowland forest patches of Northern and Central Vietnam

Abstract

AbstractDuring the last years, much of the diversity studies of myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds) have been concentrated mostly in the Southern region of Vietnam. Moreover, information on leaf litter inhabiting myxomycetes for the country is still in scarcity. Hence, this study aims to assess the occurrence and distribution of leaf litter inhabiting myxomycetes in different forest types in the subtropical northern and coastal tropical monsoon central part of the country. Samples of aerial and ground leaf litter that were used to prepare moist chamber cultures in the laboratory were collected in (1) Ba Vi National Park, Ha Noi, (2) Ho Nui Coc, Thai Nguyen, and (3) coastal forest patches in Da Nang. A total of 24 species belonging to 10 genera, wherein the majority of these myxomycete species appeared abundantly (11 species) is reported for this study. Based on species richness, Ha Noi harbored the highest number of myxomycete species. Leaf litter inhabiting myxomycete communities between aerial and ground substrates shared a high level of similarity based on their species composition and relative abundance. Highest level of similarity of leaf litter inhabiting myxomycete asssemblages is also reported between Ha Noi and Da Nang (CC = 0.78, PS = 0.56). This research study is the first step in understanding the complex myxomycete ecology of leaf inhabiting myxomycetes and would help filling now the large gap in one of the unexplored tropical areas of the world.