Myxomycetes associated with arid habitats in northeastern South Australia

ABSTRACT

The myxomycetes associated with samples of dead plant material collected from arid habitats in northeastern South Australia were investigated with the use of the moist chamber culture technique. Since myxomycetes are usually associated with relatively moist conditions, one would not anticipate them to be very common in arid areas. However, 69% of the cultures prepared yielded some evidence (either plasmodia or fruiting bodies) of myxomycetes. A total of 26 species of myxomycetes representing 10 different genera were recorded, including one species (Licea succulenticola) not previously reported from Australia and 11 others that appear to represent new records for South Australia. The distribution of the myxomycetes associated with substrates in arid areas of northeastern South Australia is discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Diversity
• ecology of arid areas
• moist chamber cultures
• slime moulds
• Sturt Stony Desert
• Strzelecki Desert
• Tirari Desert

Acknowledgements

The research reported herein was supported in part by the Slime Mold Project at the University of Arkansas. Our field sites in South Australia were visited during survey work on rare desert mammals; in 2018, 100 donors graciously supported that project through the crowdfunding platform Experiment.com, and in 2019, the work was supported by a grant received from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund [182511500]. We are grateful to David Harvey and Peter Nunn, the managers of Clifton Hills Station, for allowing us to work on their property, and to Margie, who fed us whenever we stopped by the station kitchen. David Brook (Alton Downs Station) and Rodney Fullarton (Mungerannie and Mulka Stations) also graciously gave us access to their properties. We also appreciate the help, hospitality, and directions provided by Jason Dunn, the manager of Etadunna Station. We thank Steve Jackson and Kelsey Myers Elliott for help in collecting some of the data. The School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia, provided facilities and an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship to TFE. The helpful comments of Diana Wrigley de Basanta relating to one of the specimens reported herein are gratefully acknowledged. We appreciate the illustration done by Angela Mele used for Figure 4.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund [182511500]; The School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England [International Postgraduate Research Scholarship]; Experiment.com.