Castanea Archives

Mycoheterotrophic plants derive most or all carbon and nutrients from fungal partners and represent poorly understood components of forest biodiversity. Many are rare or endangered yet can be ecological indicators of forest ecosystem function due to fungal host requirements. One such species is the IUCN red-listed (‘vulnerable’), fully mycoheterotrophic orchid, Corallorhiza bentleyi. This recently described species is among the rarest plants in Appalachia, known from five counties in Virginia and West Virginia. The species has a restricted range, small population size, and is self-pollinating. Here, an integrative approach was taken in conservation genetic assessment of C. bentleyi using floral morphometrics,

Samples for isolation of dictyostelid cellular slime molds (dictyostelids) were collected from two types of glades (limestone and dolomite) in northwest Arkansas. Glades are non-forest habitats which typically have shallow and usually rather xeric soils. As such, they would not appear to be particularly suitable for dictyostelids. In the present study, only seven species were recovered, and just three of these were recorded from both limestone and dolomite glades. Total densities (clones/gram) were rather low for both types of glades, with 25 clones/gram in dolomite glades and 23 clones/gram in limestone glades.

Myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds or myxogastrids) have been collected in the Mountain Lake area of southwestern Virginia since 1890, and several recognized authorities on this group of organisms along with numerous other individuals have visited or worked at the University of Virginia Mountain Lake Biological Station. The collective efforts of all these individuals have generated a considerable body of information on myxomycetes. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive annotated checklist of all species of myxomycetes reported from the Mountain Lake area. This checklist contains 166 species in 39 genera. This total is approximately 36% of the

Hurricane Hugo was a category five storm in September of 1989 that significantly impacted natural areas along the Carolina coastal plain through wind damage and storm surge flooding. Francis Beidler Forest, an Audubon wildlife sanctuary in Four Holes Swamp, suffered severe damage to its forest canopy. In response to concerns that the rare spring ephemeral Trillium pusillum var. pusillum may be negatively impacted by the loss of the mixed hardwood canopy, we established permanent plots in the spring of 1990 with single leaf, triple leaf, and flowering individuals recorded by Ecology faculty and students at The Citadel. Disruption to the