Microhabitat distribution of protostelids in temperate habitats in northwestern Arkansas

Abstract

Protostelids are unicellular slime molds that belong in a monophyletic group, the Eumycetozoa. A standardized technique was developed for the study of protostelid communities from the leaf litter and aerial microhabitats of forests and grasslands in northwestern Arkansas. Protostelium mycophaga Olive and Stoian and Soliformovum irregularis (Olive and Stoian) Spiegel were more abundant in grasslands, while Schizoplasmodiopsis pseudoendospora Olive, Martin, and Stoian, Nematostelium ovatum (Olive and Stoian) Olive and Stoian, and Echinosteliopsis oligospora Reinhard and Olive were more abundant in forests. Some species of protostelids exhibited a preference for either the aerial microhabitat, e.g., P. mycophaga and Soliformovum irregularis, or the litter microhabitat, e.g., N. ovatum and Schizoplasmodiopsis pseudoendospora. Other species, including Cavostelium apophysatum Olive, Tychosporium arachisporum Spiegel, Moore, and Feldman, and Schizoplasmodium cavostelioides, were present in both microhabitats.Key words: ecology, mycetozoans, protoctists, slime molds.