A checklist of myxomycetes from Kazakhstan
Keywords:
Amoebozoa, biodiversity, Central Asia, regional myxobiota, slime molds, species distribution, taxonomyAbstract
This paper presents an annotated checklist of myxomycetes recorded from Kazakhstan, comprising 193 species accepted according to the current taxonomy. The checklist synthesizes data from a comprehensive evaluation of 26 relevant publications; species mentioned in these sources were treated as records unless explicitly referencing primary data of another study. Among the major vegetation zones, mountain coniferous forests where most diverse (115 taxa recorded), followed by forest steppe (87), semidesert (71), extra zonal forests in steppe (69), steppe (49), desert (48), and open mountain (25) biomes. Decaying wood was the most frequently reported substrate (157 records), closely followed by plant litter (155). Bark of living trees and shrubs (99) was also important, while living mosses (24) and dung (28) supported fewer, yet often highly specialized, species. Field surveys yielded 109 species, but an additional 48 species were detected via the moist chamber culture technique. Only 36 species were recovered at least once by both methods. These findings demonstrate that field surveys and moist chamber cultures complement each other, recovering distinct species assemblages. The latter method proved to be essential for detecting minute species, particularly those inhabiting desert environments.
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