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Dryad

Diversity of cellular slime molds (dictyostelids) in the Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve and geographical distribution comparisons with other representative nature reserves in different climate zones of China

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Nov 06, 2023 version files 139.96 KB

Abstract

Protected areas are widely considered an essential strategy for biodiversity conservation. Dictyostelids are unique soil protists known to have important ecological functions, but the relationship between dictyostelid diversity within protected areas remains poorly understood, especially on a large scale. Herein, we report data on the distribution of dictyostelids, identified with ITS + SSU rRNA molecular and morphology-based taxonomy, from soil samples collected in the Fanjing Mountain protected area of Guizhou Province, Southwest China. We compared the dictyostelids biodiversity data with similar data from previously sampled sites in other protected areas in China. We identified four species of dictyostelids belonging to three genera (Dictyostelium, Heterostelium, and Polysphondylium)and herein provide information on the taxonomy of these species information. Two species (Heterostelium pallidum and Dictyostelium purpureum) are common and widely distributed throughout the world, but one species (Polysphondylium fuscans) was new to China. Our data indicate that the distribution patterns of dictyostelids are most influenced by vegetation and temperature. Overall, the similarity index between Baiyun Mountain in Henan Province and Fanjing Mountain in Guizhou Province, located at approximately the same longitude, is the highest, and the similarity coefficients of family, genus and species are 100%, 100% and 12.5%, respectively. From a species perspective, species in the same climate zone are not closely related, but obvious geographical distributions are evident in different climate zones. This preliminary study provided evidence of the ecological adaptation of dictyostelids to different biological niches.