CELLULAR SLIME MOLDS(ACRASIEAE)OF THE TENRYU RIVER REGION. : 1. Seasonal fluctuation in the forest soil.

Abstract

A study was made on five species cellular slime mold-Dictyostelium mucoroides BREFELD, D. purpureum OLIVE, D. discoideum RAPER, Polysphondylium pallidum OLIVE and P. violaceum BREFELD-in the forest soil in the Tenryu Valley, Central Japan. D. mucoroides was the species to occur most frequently throughout the year ; next was P. pallidum, to be followed by D. purpreum and P. violaceum ; D. discoideum occurred least frequently of the five. D. mucoroides occurred most frequently in winter, about fifty percent over other seasons. D. purpreum showed the highest frequency in autumn and the lowest in summer, while P.pallidum showed the frequency as high as D. mucoroides in spring and autumn, but lower one in winter and summer. P. violaceum was most frequent in autumn and least in winter. On the average, cellular slime molds of five species showed an increase in autumn and spring, and a decrease in winter and summer.