Succession in myxomycete communities on dead Pinus densiflora wood in a secondary forest in southwestern Japan

Abstract Changes in myxomycete communities and species were investigated over an 8‐year period in relation to the decay state of dead Pinus densiflora Siebold & Zucc. wood on which myxomycete fruiting bodies occurred. The study was carried out during three different seasons in a pine forest in southwestern Japan. A total of 44 species and seven varieties of myxomycetes were recorded. The species richness and diversity of the annual myxomycete communities did not clearly change in relation to the series of years, but the percent similarity of the myxomycete community from the beginning of the survey through the following years tended to decrease every season. The ordination of the annual communities, analyzed using non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), indicated that seasonal factors on the first axis and the decay state of the wood on the second axis were significantly related. Species colonization patterns were arranged using succession indices and the distribution of certain species at particular times of the year: Arcyria ferruginea , A. obvelata , Lamproderma arcyrionema , and Physarum viride early in the year and Stemonitopsis hyperopta , Cribraria intricata , Lindbladia cribrarioides , Lamproderma columbinum , Tubifera ferruginosa , and Trichia verrucosa later on. Changes in the relative abundance of colony sizes of several species showed annual trends. Species using slightly decayed wood at the beginning were replaced by those using more brittle wood as the years progressed. Myxomycete succession on dead wood changed through time as the wood decayed, based on species preferences for particular decay stages.