Diversity of myxomycetes in typhoon-prone areas: a case study in beach and inland forests of Aurora and Quezon Province, Philippines
Enrico M. Cabutaje, Melissa H. Pecundo & Thomas Edison E. dela Cruz
Sydowia 73: 113-132
Published online on December 11th, 2020
Field specimens of myxomycetes and substrates were collected seven months after a typhoon hit Aurora Province and a month after a typhoon hit Quezon Province in Eastern Philippines. A total of 720 moist chambers were prepared from aerial leaf litter, ground leaf litter and twigs that were randomly collected within the two forest types in the two provinces. Myxomycete records from the field and moist chambers resulted to the identification of 42 species belonging to 18 genera in Aurora, and 48 species belonging to 19 genera in Quezon. Comparing the two forest types, inland forests had higher species diversity, richness, and evenness, but the beach forests were more taxonomically diverse. Community analysis showed similarities in myxomycete species composition between the beach and inland forests in Aurora and Quezon provinces. Relating the output with typhoons, a higher number of species was observed in Quezon where field and substrate collections were conducted one month after a typhoon than in Aurora where longer period (= 7 months) has already elapsed before field and substrate collections. Our results suggested that potential impact of typhoon on myxomycetes.
Keywords: fruiting body, natural disturbance, species diversity, tropical forest, typhoon.
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