Macroecology of high-elevation myxomycete assemblages in the northern Neotropics
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2010Autor
Rojas Alvarado, Carlos Alonso
Stephenson, Steven L.
Huxel, Gary R.
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A number of recent studies have been directed
towards developing a more complete understanding of
myxomycete ecology throughout the world. However, the
lack of comparative data obtained using standard methodologies
makes the results of these studies somewhat
speculative. The objective of this investigation was to
examine the evidence of macroecological patterns in
myxomycete assemblages in high-elevation areas of the
northern Neotropics. For this, a series of study areas in
Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, as well as two external
study areas (one in the United States and the other in
Thailand), were selected to compare the diversityenvironment
relationships exhibited by myxomycetes.
Altogether, the 2592 moist chamber cultures prepared
yielded a total of 1377 myxomycete records, representing
89 different species. A trend of decreasing species richness
with decreasing latitude was observed for the species
assemblages associated with the study areas in the
Neotropics. As latitude increased, species assemblages in
the Neotropical study areas became increasingly similar to
the temperate study area. The difference in species richness
between study areas in Mexico and Thailand, along with
the results obtained for a series of macroclimatic patterns
evaluated in the study areas of the Neotropical region,
suggests that forest structure plays an important role in the
structure of myxomycete assemblages. In contrast, soil
chemical characteristics and the pH of the substrates present
seem to be indirectly related to the diversity estimators used
for analysis, suggesting that they are probably more
important at a smaller ecological scale.
External link to the item
10.1007/s11557-010-0713-2Colecciones
- Biología [1636]