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THE OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF ACRASIEAE IN FOREST SOILS. II. EAST AFRICA
Author(s) -
Cavender James C.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1969.tb09751.x
Subject(s) - biology , temperate climate , ecology , altitude (triangle) , temperate forest , habitat , old growth forest , tropical forest , temperate rainforest , tropics , distribution (mathematics) , ecosystem , mathematical analysis , geometry , mathematics
The tropical forest soils of East Africa do not harbor as many species of cellular slime molds as those of Central America, although the same species dominate populations in both areas. The difference occurs in the incidence of the less frequently isolated Acrasieae, such as the crampon‐based species. As was suggested for European forests, an explanation may lie in the fact that East African forests are not as complex and, therefore, there exists less variety of micro‐habitats for Acrasieae. An alternative but not a mutually exclusive theory is that tropical America represents a center of evolution and distribution for the group. As forest in East Africa becomes more temperate in character because of an increase in altitude, the composition of the acrasian populations changes. In particular, Dietyostelium minutum replaces D. purpureum as a dominant, and the number of species diminishes. A similar change was noted previously in Central America.