A global overview of dictyostelid ecology with special emphasis in North American Forest

Abstract

Development in 1965 of a quantitative method for dictyostelid isolation from soil samples, made possible ecological studies based on frequency and density of occurrence. Information has subsequently been obtained on a number of aspects of dictyostelid ecology. I discuss some of them in this chapter, especially those aspects studied after Raper's publication in 1984 of his famous book The Dictyostelids. These include dispersal, relative abundance, optimum conditions for maximum diversity, comparison of temperate and tropical populations, ecological individuality of species (especially Dictyostelium discoideum), possible decline in species numbers, and global distribution of Dictyostelia.