Dead logs hosted the richest slime-mold assemblages in one Araucaria forest
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Sampling dead logs, branches, twigs, leaf litter and living plants at three locations yielded 160 slime-mold specimens in 30 taxa. Dead logs had the highest mean richness and abundance, and community composition differed among the five substrates. Two taxa were newly recorded for Rio Grande do Sul.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
A stand's biodiversity cannot be inferred from tree cover alone; decomposition substrates create important, distinct microhabitats worth noticing in habitat inventories.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
The team sampled just 15 units at three points and did not quantify how much of each substrate was available. Higher recorded richness on logs cannot be translated into an experimentally established habitat preference or generalized to all Araucaria forests.
SOURCE
Mycological Progress — Velloso et al. (2026)
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A fine-scale Brazilian substrate survey argues for looking below the canopy when assessing forest biodiversity.
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