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The paper present the results of a new field collection of myxomycetes (plasmodial slime moulds) on dead wood, dead bark and litter substrate in southeast New South Wales centred on Canberra (lat. 35° S, long. 149° E). The sample consists of 96 species from 493 collections. This survey is compared with four other surveys for similar substrates and similar temperate climate: southwest Western Australia, southeast Australia, New Zealand and Patagonia. The assemblages are similar in species composition and abundance, when allowance is made for the large random effect in the sampling. These five southern hemisphere assemblages have been combined into a composite assemblage. This composite assemblage is similar to those of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and Britain, when allowance is made for the varying sampling of litter. This similarity may represent a single species assemblage occurring in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres in areas of similar temperate climate.
Myxomycetes (slime moulds) of arid to semi-arid areas of northwest New South Wales, Australia
(2015)
Myxomycetes (plasmodial slime moulds) were studied along an east-west traverse extending across the arid and semi-arid zones in northwest New South Wales bounded by Lake Cargelligo (400 mm annual rainfall), Bourke (400 mm annual rainfall), Tibooburra (200 mm annual rainfall) and Menindee (250 mm annual rainfall). Samples of tree bark were collected from a range of trees, and subsequently myxomycetes were obtained in the laboratory with the use of the moist culture method. A total of 43 species were recognized. The assemblages of myxomycetes recorded did not change significantly across these climate zones, and, for samples with a reasonable number of species present, there was little difference in diversity due to tree-bark type. The assemblage of species present along this traverse is similar to arid and semi-arid zone tree bark assemblages elsewhere in Australia, which is consistent with the occurrence of one assemblage throughout.
About half of this assemblage consists of widely distributed species likely to be recorded anywhere in the world (cosmopolitan), although these species are found in relatively few samples. The other half of the assemblage is made up of species with a more restricted distribution (generally found in one region of the world or relatively rare worldwide); these species were found in most samples. These restricted distribution species have centres of distribution at a similar latitude and climate in the northern hemisphere.
The assemblage of species associated with bark in the higher rainfall areas of Australia has some of the species of the arid and semi-arid zones; it has most of the widely distributed species and very few of the restricted distribution species. The boundary zone between the two assemblages of species is likely to be near the outer margin of the semiarid zone.