The biodiversity of myxomycetes in central Chile

The results obtained from two expeditions to survey the biodiversity of myxomycetes in Central Chile are reported in this paper. The surveys were carried out as part of Global Biodiversity of Eumycetozoans project funded by the National Science Foundation (USA) and the Myxotropic project funded by the Spanish Government. The expeditions were made to the temperate zone of the central part of the country between 23° and 39° South latitudes, which is characterized by Mediterranean vegetation, as well as to the transition areas between the arid and semi-arid regions of northern Chile, and the humid, cold Valdivian and Andean-Patagonian forests of the far South. Eight of the fifteen regions of the country, from Antofagasta to Araucanía, in selected areas where the native vegetation is well preserved, were included in these surveys. Over 600 collections were obtained, and a total of 110 species of myxomycetes representing 29 genera have been identified. Two of these ( Dianema succulenticola, Didymium chilense ) are species new to science and are described in this paper, 12 species ( Collaria nigricapillitia, Comatricha alta, Cribraria oregana, Dianema depressum, Didymium eximium, D. nivicolum, Enerthenema melanospermum, Lepidoderma chailletii, Macbrideola ovoidea, Physarum clavisporum, Ph. newtonii and Trichia alpina ) were previously unknown for either the Neotropics or South America, and 49 additional species are new records for Chile. Comments are provided on the morphology, distribution and ecology of selected species and light and SEM micrographs of the most significant species are included. An evaluation of the biodiversity of myxomycetes in Chile, with special emphasis on the endemic plants that provided the substrates with which they were associated, and a comparative analysis of our results with those from other countries of South America is presented.