VOLUME 62 : 2014

Myxomycetes in geographically isolated islands are among the less explored microbiota. The Philippines with its more than 7,000 islands offers many sites to study these island myxomycetes. In this study, the occurrence and diversity of myxomycetes in three forest sites within the island of Polillo are reported. Moist chambers were prepared for ground leaf litter and twigs collected within the island and used to assess myxomycete diversity. A total of 34 species were collected and identified in the island of Polillo. These were identified as belonging to the genera Arcyria, Ceratiomyxa, Comatricha, Collaria, Cribraria, Diachea, Diderma, Didymium, Echinostelium, Hemitrichia, Lamproderma, Lycogala, Perichaena, Physarum, Stemonitis, and Trichia. More species were recorded from ground leaf litter (24) than twigs (20). Two species, i.e. Arcyria cinerea and Cribraria microcarpa, occurred abundantly while 20 species were reported as rare. This research study is the first report of myxomycetes in the island of Polillo.

Keywords: island biodiversity, plasmodial slime molds, species abundance, species diversity