Records of corticolous myxomycetes from selected trees in Angat Watershed Forest Reserve, Bulacan, Philippines

Abstract

Corticolous myxomycetes are a specialized guild of myxomycetes thriving on the bark of living trees. In this study, we explored the bark-inhabiting myxomycetes from selected trees in the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve, Bulacan, Philippines. Pieces of dead tree barks were carefully removed from selected mature trees — Gmelina arborea (“gmelina” or “yemane”), Mangifera indica (“mango”), Parkia timoriana (“kupang”), Pinus sp. (“pine tree”), Pterocarpus indicus (“narra”), Samanea saman (“acacia” or “rain tree”), and Shorea contorta (“white lauan”), within the accessible forest area and used for the preparation of moist chamber culture. Following incubation for 8–12 weeks, fruiting bodies from the moist chambers were identified. Results showed a total of 17 species belonging to 10 genera from five orders. The identified corticolous myxomycetes were Arcyria cinerea, A. denudata, Comatricha pulchella, C. tenerrima, Cribraria microcarpa, C. violacea, Diderma effusum, D. hemisphaericum, Hemitrichia pardina, Lamproderma scintillans, Licea operculata, Licea sp.1, Perichaena chrysosperma, P. pedata, Physarum album, P. leucophaeum, and Trichia decipiens. This is the first report of corticolous myxomycetes in the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve. KEYWORDS: bark, moist chamber culture, Paleotropics, plasmodial slime molds, species list