Some observations of slime moulds on wood and litter in beech forests

The results of research into slime moulds in beech forest reserves in Central Poland are discussed. Thirty species of slime moulds directly associated with beech wood and beech litter were recorded. Species associated with different decay phases of beech wood and litter were identified.


sTuDy arEa
The study area belongs to the Wzniesienia Łódzkie hills mesoregion according to kondracki (1998).investigations were conducted in three nature reserves and a natural site in central Poland where European beech reaches the northern limit of its natural range (Fig. 1).
The Wiączyń reserve was established in a 1 300 ha forest complex (las Wiączyński forest) and covers an area of 8.40 ha. it comprises sections 170a, 170c and 176a, and is part of the former Puszcza Łódzka old-growth forest.The reserve protects a natural deciduous forest on the northern range limit of beech and fir, and comprises a shade forest.The field layer is composed of few species with a very small cover.This community type is the most representative of mixed beech forests and resembles acidic lowland beech forests (olaczek 1962; personal inf. 2004).
The Gałków reserve covers an area of 57.85 ha and comprises forest sections 240, 241 and 244a, b, c, d. it is one of the oldest reserves in the Łódź voivodeship.it protects Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba which grow here at the limit of their geographic range.as reported by sowa and olaczek (1971), the primeval beechfir forest has been preserved in the reserve.However, it differs considerably from similar forests in southern Poland which are distinguished by floral poverty, the absence of species associated with beech and the mountainous character.The field layer is formed by plants typical of beech forests, oak-hornbeam forests and other deciduous forests.approximately 29 beeches of natural and historic importance grow in the reserve.They are over 150 years old, with some as old as 300 years.
The Parowy Janinowskie reserve is situated in the northern part of the Janinów natural site complex, one of the largest sites of the natural occurrence of common beech (557 ha) in central Poland (rutowicz, sowa 1976) and one of the areas of greatest value in the Wzniesienia Łódzkie landscape Park (kurowski 1986, 1994, 1998).it comprises sections 37b, c, 38, 39a, b, f, 43b, 44a, b, and is part of a gentle n-facing slope covered with a network of original erosion ravines.Luzulo pilosae-Fagetum phytoceonoses cover considerable areas of the reserve (kurowski 1994).
The Paprotnia natural site covers 63.88 ha, comprises sections 221-224 and is situated on the line of the highest hills running from zgierz to the vicinity of Brze-Brzeziny.Circaeo-Alnetum, Tilio-Carpinetum and Luzulo pilosae-Fagetum forest associations were identified within the site.They cover the entire hilly area of the moraine plateau and its edge.a dense and healthy 90-year-old beech tree stand prevails.The edge, steep slopes and local elevations are covered by its poor variant; flat areas are covered by a variant with Anemone nemorosa (Łuczak, Łuczak 2000a, b).
The four areas are interesting sites of Fagus sylvatica and have been studied by botanists, mycologists, mycosociologists and phytopathologists.Herbarium collections of fungi gathered over a period of 50 years are deposited in the Herbarium Universitatis Lodziensis (loD F).Herbarium materials were analysed to identify life conditions of beech at the limit of its natural range.results will be published in successive papers.This study discusses myxomycetes and is the first in the series.

maTErial anD mETHoDs
Field studies were conducted in [2000][2001][2002][2003][2004].observations were carried out on the abundant substrate lying on the forest floor (beech wood: trunks, stumps, logs, beech litter).a three-stage wood decay scale (kreisel 1961; runge 1978, 1979; lisiewska 1992) was used in the study: 1) the initial phase that begins in month 7 to 10 and lasts up to two years after a tree is felled; 2) the optimal phase that occurs after two vegetative seasons and lasts 2-5 years; 3) the end (terminal) phase.it is the longest phase and lasts 5-15 years.morphological and anatomical characters were examined in the material.specimens were observed with a nikon smz-10a binocular and a nikon Eclipse E-200 light microscope.monographs by krzemieniewska (1960) and neubert, nowotny, Bauman & marx (1993Bauman & marx ( , 1995Bauman & marx ( , 2000) ) were used to identify the taxa.The nomenclature was accepted after Drozdowicz et al. ( 2003), updated according to lado (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010).current names of slime moulds were also used in the citations from source studies.The name under which a species was published by the original author is given in brackets.
The specimens collected are deposited in the Herbarium Universitatis Lodziensis (loD F).

Discussion
Thirty species of slime moulds that occurred directly on beech trunks, stumps and logs and on beech litter composed of small beech twigs, bark pieces, fallen leaves and beech fruits were recorded.an ecological analysis of the results shows that some species, e.g., Stemonitis axifera or Arcyria denudata, preferred beech wood without bark in the optimal decay phase.other species, e.g., Lycogala epidendrum, Tubulifera arachnoidea and Hemitrichia clavata, occurred on the bark of logs in the optimal and end decay phases.Metatrichia vesparia and Trichia scabra mostly colonised logs of Fagus sylvatica in the end decay stage.
The present results correspond to those reported in similar studies. in particular, investigations conducted by Drozdowicz (1992aDrozdowicz ( , b, 2008) ) confirm the observations that beech wood, and especially beech logs in the end decay phase, are a good substrate for the development of slime moulds.a comparison of the results collected in the ojców national Park and central Poland shows that 22 species occur in both areas on beech logs.only individual taxa distinguish the mountainous area from the lowland area.
The occurrence of 29 species of slime moulds was recorded in studies conducted by miśkiewicz (2001) in the Dentario glandulosae-Fagetum and Querco-Fagetum communities in the Bukowiec reserve in the carpathian mts.The taxa were associated with beech logs or lying stumps of Fagus sylvatica: Arcyria cinerea, A. denudata, Hemitrichia clavata, Lycogala epidendrum, Metatrichia vesparia (M.vesparium) and Stemonitis axifera.These species also occurred in the sites investigated by the present author and were recorded by stojanowska (1979( ), Drozdowicz (1992b( , 2008) ) and ing (1994), who reports 21 species associated with the wood of Fagus sylvatica.
studies conducted in the Białowieża old-growth forest (chlebicki et al. 1996) also showed that as many as 38 species of the 44 species recorded at the cryPTo programme research plot are associated with strongly decayed wood and mostly occur on wood previously colonised by fungi.
The composition of slime moulds recorded in the litter is also characteristic.Arcyria cinerea, A. denudata and Comatricha nigra mostly occurred on beech twigs while Diachea leucopodia, Didymium melanospermum, Fuligo septica and Physarum virescens colonised beech leaves.stojanowska (1983) gives a list of species associated with the litter, also beech litter, in her long-term studies on slime moulds.These include species recoded in the study area: Arcyria incarnata, Comatricha nigra (on dry leaves and fallen twigs), Diachea leucopodia, Didymium melanospermum, Leocarpus fragilis, Physarum notabile (on beech bark lying on the forest floor) and Physarum virescens.conclusions Beech stumps, trunks, logs and litter are an excellent site for the development of many myxomycete species.The results confirm special preferences of slime moulds for beech wood observed by other authors.Stemonitis axifera or Arcyria denudata preferred bark-free beech wood in the optimal decay phase.other species, e.g., Lycogala epidendrum, Tubulifera arachnoidea, Hemitrichia clavata, occurred on the bark of logs also in the optimal decay phase.Metatrichia vesparia and Trichia scabra most frequently colonised logs of Fagus sylvatica in the end decay phase.Diachea leucopodia, Didymium melanospermum, Fuligo septica, F. leviderma and Physarum virescens mostly occurred in the beech litter.
The investigations show that dead beech wood is a major and irreplaceable factor in forest diversity.it plays an important role in preserving particularly interesting and rare species of slime moulds that are also characteristic of wood and litter of Fagus sylvatica.