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Type: Article
Published: 2021-05-31
Page range: 176–186
Abstract views: 36
PDF downloaded: 1

Distribution and ecology of dictyostelids in Madagascar

Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, United States
Department of Biology, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, West Virginia 25443, United States
Escuela de Bioquímica, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Kennedy, Buenos Aires, Argentina-Museo de Historia Natural Dr. Ricardo S. Vadell, Viamonte 1716 CABA, Argentina
Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, United States
39 Madeley Drive, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 3LB, United Kingdom
Real Jardín Botánico (CSIC), Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Engineering Research Center of Edible and Medicinal Fungi, Chinese Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, Jilin Province, P. R. China
biodiversity ecology Heterostelium island biogeography slime molds species richness Fungi

Abstract

Samples for isolation of dictyostelid cellular slime molds were obtained from 20 collecting sites at 18 localities in south central and southeastern Madagascar during May 2009. At least thirty species of dictyostelids representing seven genera were recovered from 52 samples of soil/humus. This total included 17 species described as new to science, 13 species already known from various localities throughout the world, and four isolates that remain unidentified. Fourteen of the new species isolated from these samples are members of the whorl-branched, light-spored genus Heterostelium (formerly Polysphondylium). The overall level of species richness of dictyostelids in Madagascar is greater than what is known for all of mainland Africa sampled to date. Levels of biodiversity in Madagascar were higher for mesic than for xeric vegetation types, and each of the newly described species of Heterostelium appeared to have a limited distribution among the localities sampled.