Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Microhabitat and Climatic Preferences of Protosteloid Amoebae in a Region with a Mediterranean Climate

  • Fungal Microbiology
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The role of microhabitat and climate variation in structuring protosteloid amoebae communities has been investigated for the first time in the Mediterranean Basin, a biodiversity hotspot for plants and animals and the largest of the world’s five areas with a Mediterranean climate. Abundance data were obtained from natural substrates collected in 13 localities from central Spain, and a total of 1,504 colonies and 18 species were recorded. For this new area, it has been carried out an optimization of the culturing effort based on rarefaction analyses, thus making possible to adapt the protocol to the objectives in future research. Canonical correspondence analysis and generalized linear models showed that microhabitat type was the most important factor for differentiating the niches of the species studied, but climatic variables, especially minimum temperature of the coldest month, precipitation seasonality, and temperature range, had secondary but also important effects. Bark inhabitants tend to be more abundant in localities with high temperature range and low annual precipitation. Aerial litter was the microhabitat with the highest species richness, abundance, and evenness. Species typical of this microhabitat are more abundant when there is high precipitation, low temperature of the warmest month, and low minimum temperature of the coldest month.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Adl SM, Simpson AGB, Farmer MA, Andersen RA, Anderson OR, Barta JR, Bowser SS, Brugerolle G, Fensome RA, Fredericq S, James TY, Karpov S, Kugrens P, Krug J, Lane CE, Lewis LA, Lodge J, Lynn LD, Mann DG, McCourt RM, Mendoza L, Moestrup Ø, Mozley-Standridge SE, Nerad TA, Shearer CA, Smirnov AV, Spiegel FW, Taylor MFJR (2005) The new higher level classification of eukaryotes with emphasis on the taxonomy of protists. J Eukaryot Microbiol 52:399–451

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Aguilar M, Lado C, Spiegel FW (2007) Protostelids from deciduous forests: first data from southwestern Europe. Mycol Res 111(7):863–872

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Best SC, Spiegel FW (1984) Protostelids and other simple mycetozoans of Hueston Woods State Park and Nature Preserve. In: Willeke GB (ed) Hueston Woods State Park and Nature Preserve, proceedings of a symposium, April 16–18. Miami University, Oxford, pp 116–121

    Google Scholar 

  4. Biodiversity Hotspots Conservation International (2007) http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org

  5. Brown MW, Spiegel FW (2008) Assessment of protostelid diversity in Ozark Plateau oak-hickory forests in south central USA. In: Abstracts from 2007 MSA meeting at LSU, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Inoculum vol 59, p 9

  6. Chao A, Lee S-M (1992) Estimating the number of classes via sample coverage. J Am Stat Assoc 87:210–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chao A, Ma M-C, Yang MCK (1993) Stopping rules and estimation for recapture debugging with unequal failure rates. Biometrika 80:193–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. CurveExpert curve fitting software (2008) http://curveexpert.webhop.net/

  9. EDIT geoplatform (2007) http://edit.csic.es

  10. Fiore-Donno AM, Nikolaev SI, Nelson M, Pawlowski J, Cavalier-Smith T, Baldauf SL (2010) Deep phylogeny and evolution of slime molds (Mycetozoa). Protist 161(1):55–70

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lado C (2005–2010) An online nomenclatural information system of Eumycetozoa. http://www.nomen.eumycetozoa.com (consulted 2008)

  12. Lado C (1993) Bases corológicas de Flora Micológica Ibérica, números 376–692. Cuad Trab Flora Micol Ibér 7:1–305

    Google Scholar 

  13. Lado C, Pando F (1997) Myxomycetes, I. Ceratiomyxales, Echinosteliales, Liceales, Trichiales. In: Flora Mycologica Ibérica, vol. 2. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC & J. Cramer in der Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Madrid

  14. Lindley LA, Stephenson SL, Spiegel FW (2007) Protostelids and myxomycetes isolated from aquatic habitats. Mycologia 99(4):504–509

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Moore DL, Spiegel FW (1995) A new technique for sampling protostelids. Mycologia 87(3):414–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Moore DL, Spiegel FW (2000) Microhabitat distribution of protostelids in tropical forests of the Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico. Mycologia 92(4):616–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Moore DL, Spiegel FW (2000) The effect of season on protostelid communities. Mycologia 92(4):599–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Moore DL, Spiegel FW (2000) Microhabitat distribution of protostelids in temperate habitats in northwestern Arkansas. Can J Bot 78:985–994

    Google Scholar 

  19. Moore DL, Stephenson SL (2003) Microhabitat distribution of protostelids in a Tropical Wet Forest in Costa Rica. Mycologia 95(1):11–18

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Moore DL, Stephenson S, Laursen G, Woodgate W (2000) Protostelids from boreal forest and tundra ecosystems in Alaska. Mycologia 92(3):390–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ndiritu GG, Stephenson SL, Spiegel FW (2009) First records and microhabitat assessment of protostelids in the Aberdare region, central Kenya. J Eukaryot Microbiol 56(2):148–158

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Oksanen J, Kindt R, Legendre P, O’Hara B, Simpson GL, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2008) vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 1.13-1. http://vegan.r-forge.r-project.org/

  23. Olive LS (1975) Chapter 2: Protostelia (Protostelids). In: The Mycetozoans. Academic, New York

  24. Powers DM, Stephenson SL (2006) Protostelids from tropical forests, woodlands and deserts in Australia. Mycologia 98(2):218–222

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. R Development Core Team (2008) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, http://www.R-project.org

  26. Romeralo M, Lado C (2006) Dictyostelids from Mediterranean forests of the south of Europe. Mycol Prog 5:231–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Schnittler M (2001) Ecology of myxomycetes of a winter-cold desert in western Kazakhstan. Mycologia 93(4):653–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Schnittler M, Stephenson SL (2000) Myxomycete biodiversity in four different forest types in Costa Rica. Mycologia 92(4):626–637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Shadwick J, Stephenson S (2004) First records of protostelids from northern India. Fungal Divers 16:141–145

    Google Scholar 

  30. Shadwick JDL, Stephenson SL, Spiegel FW (2009) Distribution and ecology of protostelids in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mycologia 101(3):320–328

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Shadwick LL, Spiegel FW, Shadwick JDL, Brown MW, Silberman JD (2009) Eumycetozoa = Amoebozoa?: SSUrDNA phylogeny of protosteloid slime molds and its significance for the Amoebozoan supergroup. PLoS ONE 4(8):1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. SPADE software (2008) http://140.114.36.3:8080/NTHUStat/UserInfo.jsp

  33. Spiegel FW (1986) Phylum plasmodial slime molds class Protostelida. In: Margulis et al (eds) Handbook of Protoctista. Jones and Barlett, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  34. Spiegel FW, Stephenson SL, Keller HW, Moore DL, Cavender JC (2004) Sampling the biodiversity of mycetozoans. In: Foster (ed) Biodiversity of fungi. Academic, New York

    Google Scholar 

  35. Spiegel FW, Stephenson S (2000) Protostelids of Macquarie Island. Mycologia 92(5):849–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Spiegel FW, Shadwick JD, Lindley-Settlemyre L, Brown MW, Ndiritu G (2007) A beginner’s guide to identifying the protostelids. http://slimemold.uark.edu/pdfs/Handbook1_3rd.pdf

  37. Stephenson SL, Landolt JC, Moore DL (1999) Protostelids, dictyostelids, and myxomycetes in the litter microhabitat of the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Mycol Res 103:209–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Stephenson SL, Schnittler M, Lado C, Estrada-Torres A, Wrigley de Basanta D, Landolt JC, Novozhilov YK, Clarck J, Moore DL, Spiegel FW (2004) Syst Geogr Plants 74:87–108

    Google Scholar 

  39. Tesmer J, Rulik B, Spiegel F, Shadwick J, Schnittler M (2005) Protostelids from German Beech forests. Mycol Prog 4(4):267–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Tesmer J, Schnittler M (2009) Aquatic protostelids—a study from northeastern Germany. Fungal Ecol 2(3):140–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Walter H (1984) Vegetation of the earth in relation to climate and the eco-physiological conditions. The English Universities Press, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Eva García Carvajal for helping in field work, Fátima Durán for technician work, Diana Wrigley de Basanta for reviewing the style of the text, and Lora Lindley Shadwick, John Shadwick, Matt Brown, George Ndiritu, and Carlos Rojas for all their kind suggestions. This work has been supported by the Research Project (CGL2005-00320/BOS and CGL2008-00720/BOS) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and the National Science Foundation grants DEB-0316284 (PBI) and DEB-0329102 (PEET).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Micología, Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, 28014, Madrid, Spain

    María Aguilar & Carlos Lado

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    Frederick W. Spiegel

Authors
  1. María Aguilar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frederick W. Spiegel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carlos Lado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to María Aguilar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aguilar, M., Spiegel, F.W. & Lado, C. Microhabitat and Climatic Preferences of Protosteloid Amoebae in a Region with a Mediterranean Climate. Microb Ecol 62, 361–373 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9843-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9843-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation