Myxomycetes Associated with Plant-based Substrata Collected around Bulusan Lake in Sorsogon, Philippines

Ten plant-based substrates, i.e., aerial leaf litter (AL), ground leaf litter (GL), twigs (TW), woody vines (WV), tree barks (BK), dried inflorescence (IF), decayed fruits (FR), and dead leaves of Pandanus (PD), epiphytic plants (EP), and tree ferns (FN), collected along the trail leading to and surrounding Bulusan Lake in Sorsogon, Philippines, were assessed for the occurrence and diversity of myxomycetes using moist-chamber cultures. The 388 moist chambers prepared in the study yielded 25 species belonging to 12 genera. The greatest number of species was recorded from barks followed by woody vines, aerial leaf litter, twigs, and dried inflorescence. Inflorescence had the highest diversity (FI = 18.60, SID = 9.78) while the lowest was observed for the dead leaves of Pandanus (FI = 4.92, SID = 3.99). We also observed high similarities in species composition between the different substrate types.