The History of the Study of Myxomycetes

Ing, Bruce; Stephenson, Steven L.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805089-7.00002-0

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Micheli was the leading mycologist of his time, and he provided descriptions of a number of taxa that can be recognized as myxomycetes. He also appears to be the first person to use a microscope to study these organisms [ 11 ]. Linnaeus (1701–1778) included seven species of myxomycetes in his Systema Plantarum but not in the genera used today.…”

Section: The First Specimens To Be Collectedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because myxomycetes have no economic value to mankind, are not pathogenic, and the vast majority of people are unfamiliar with them, they have attracted very little in the way of funding, especially for field-based surveys [ 11 ]. However, this changed in 1997 when the National Science Foundation of the United States funded a three-year project entitled “Studies of Neotropical Myxomycetes”, which was based at Fairmont State College (now University) in the United States.…”

Section: Multi-year Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Past and Ongoing Field-Based Studies of Myxomycetes

Stephenson

2023

Microorganisms

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Evidence from molecular studies indicates that myxomycetes (also called myxogastrids or plasmodial slime molds) have a long evolutionary history, and the oldest known fossil is from the mid-Cretaceous. However, they were not “discovered” until 1654, when a brief description and a woodcut depicting what is almost certainly the common species Lycogala epidendrum was published. First thought to be fungi, myxomycetes were not universally recognized as completely distinct until well into the twentieth century. Biodiversity surveys for the group being carried out over several years are relatively recent, with what is apparently the first example being carried out in the 1930s. Beginning in the 1980s, a series of such surveys yielded large bodies of data on the occurrence and distribution of myxomycetes in terrestrial ecosystems. The most notable of these were the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) project carried out in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Project (PBI) carried out in localities throughout the world, and the Myxotropic project being carried out throughout the Neotropics. The datasets available from both past and ongoing surveys now allow global and biogeographical patterns of myxomycetes to be assessed for the first time.

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Section: The First Specimens To Be Collectedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Multi-year Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%