TITLE:
Myxomycetes on Palm Trees: Species on Attalea speciosa Mart. ex Spreng
AUTHORS:
Marcia Percília Moura Parente, Laise de Holanda Cavalcanti
KEYWORDS:
Arecaceae; Myxobiota; Microhabitat; Substrate; Neotropics; Palm Tree
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.3 No.8A,
December
26,
2013
ABSTRACT: Attalea speciosa Mart. ex Spreng (baba?u) is a palm tree of considerable economic
importance in Brazil, especially in the northeast portion of the country. The
myxobiota of baba?u was studied by examining living and dead trunks, leaves,
inflorescences and fallen fruits on the ground during the wet season at the
Teresina Park, Piauí State, Brazil. Taxonomic diversity, species diversity,
frequency of occurrence, abundance and constancy of each species were
determined in two areas of deciduous mixed forest. The taxonomic diversity of
the myxobiota was similar, with values of 1.5 and 1.6 for the two areas. The
highest frequency of occurrence value was recorded for the spathe (50% -54%),
followed by the petiole (18% -19%) and leaf sheath (4% -19%).
Myxomycetes were absent on fallen fruits and rare on the leaf blade (6%) and
dead (9%) or living (2%) trunks. Hemitrichia serpula (Scop.) Rostaf. ex Lister, Perichaena depressa Lib., Arcyria cinerea (Bull.) Pers. and H. calyculata (Speg.) M. L. Farr were the species characterized by the highest levels of constancy,
abundance and frequency. Cribraria
microcarpa (Schrad.) Pers. and Stemonitopsis
typhina (F. H. Wigg.) Nann.-Bremek. were occasionally present. Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa (Mull.) T.
Macbr., Clastoderma debaryanum A.
Blytt, Craterium aureum (Schumach.)
Rostaf. and Physarum melleum (Berk.
& Broome) Massee were infrequently encountered. Other species recorded were Arcyria denudata (L.) Wettst., Cribraria cancellata (Batsch.)
Nann.-Bremek., C. violacea Rex, Lycogala exiguum Morgan, Metatrichia vesparia (Batsch) Nann.-Bremek.
ex G. W. Martin, Physarum bogoriense Racib., P. nucleatum Rex, P. pusillum (Berk. & M. A. Curtis)
G. Lister and Stemonitis axifera (Bull.) T. Macbr. The myxobiota of the shaded study area was characterized by a
higher diversity (6.10) than the unshaded area (2.10), and the incidence of
myxomycetes on the A. speciosa trees
selected for study was appreciably higher (100% and 40%, respectively).