Biotemas (Sep 2010)
Availability of microhabitats for Myxomycetes in the Atlantic Forest: Bromeliaceae
Abstract
Some species belonging to the Bromeliaceae family are called tank-bromeliads, due to the arrangement of its leave in rosettes that accumulate water and organic debris, allowing the development of diversified organisms. Considering that information about the presence of myxomycetes on Bromeliaceae is scarce, we evaluated the availability and occupation of microhabitats for these organisms offered by bromeliads in fragments of Atlantic Forest located in the Pernambuco Endemism Center. Sampling of sporocarps and substrates for cultivation in moist chambers was carried out at the Janga Ecological Reserve (Paulista Municipality), Tapacurá Ecological Station (São Lourenço da Mata Municipality) and Mata do Estado (São Vicente Férrer Municipality), between 2007 and 2008. Ten species were present in the dead parts of representatives of Bromelioideae and Tillandsioideae: Arcyria cinerea, Craterium leucocephalum, C. paraguayense, Cribraria intricata, Diachea silvaepluvialis, Hemitrichia serpula, Physarum compressum, P. nucleatum, Stemonitis fusca and Trichia affinis. All taxa are newly reported for the sites studied, including rare species in Brazil, such as D. silvaepluvialis. The microhabitat studied had high taxonomic diversity, and the species recorded in it were rare or occasional.
