New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts

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Dictyostelid cellular slime moulds in the forests of New Zealand

James C. Cavender

Department of Environmental and Plant Biology
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701, USA

Steven L. Stephenson

Department of Biology
Fairmont State College
Fairmont, WV 26554, USA

John C. Landolt

Department of Biology
Shepherd College
Shepherdstown, WV 25443, USA

Eduardo M. Vadell

Universidad de Buenos Aires
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales
Dpto. Ciencias Biológicas – Pabellon II
Ciudad Universitaria (Núñez)
1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract  During the period of February to April of 1998, soil/litter samples for isolation of dictyostelid cellular slime moulds were collected throughout New Zealand. Collecting sites included examples of main forest types found in the country and a range in latitude (35°S to 47°S) that encompassed most of New Zealand. Thirteen species of dictyostelids were recovered; all of these occurred at low frequencies and densities. This total included a number of species (e.g., Dictyostelium mucoroides and Polysphondylium violaceum) that are common and widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere as well as several other species that have a more restricted distribution. Among the latter are Dictyostelium fasciculatum, not previously known outside of Europe, and D. rosarium, previously reported from only a few scattered localities in the Northern Hemisphere. Five of the species recovered (D. antarcticum, D. australe, D. leptosomum, D. quercibrachium, and P. anisocaule) are described for the first time. New Zealand is the most isolated land mass of its size in the world, and the assemblage of dictyostelids present is quite distinctive and seems to reflect this isolation.

Keywords  biogeography; dictyostelids; ecology; forests; New Zealand; soils; taxonomy

B01012 Received 17 April 2001; accepted 14 March 2002
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2002, Vol. 40: 235–264
0028–825X/02/4002–0235 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (1213K)

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