Ecotones are interesting portions of forests where microorganisms can be studied for monitoring and diversity purposes. Given the faster life cycle of these organisms, their study in such a context is important to develop models that allow us to understand adaptive microbial dynamics. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the dynamics of myxomycetes present in the leaf litter layer in different geographical locations representing both temperate and tropical systems, using an experimental approach within the ecotones produced by sharp forest edges. Employing the moist chamber technique and three ecological indicators (species richness, diversity, and number of records, as a proxy for abundance) associated with the reproductive phase of the life cycle of myxomycetes, the present study summarized the potential effect of both temperate and tropical ecotones on the distribution of these organisms. Data from 26 locations in six countries showed that all indicators were higher in temperate than in tropical forests and that most differences could be explained by ecological effects. The overall influence of the ecotone on myxomycetes was opposite in temperate and tropical forests, but the data collected for both types of forests showed similarities that could be explained by comparable mathematical models. These results suggested that, with the methods used herein, ecotones do affect ecological patterns of myxomycetes, but the intensity and directionality of such an effect differ depending on the forest type involved.

Abstract:The myxomycete genus Colloderma and the species Colloderma oculatum are reported for the first time in Central America. The species was recorded at high elevations in the Talamanca Mountain Range in Costa Rica during 2014 in a location where the structure of myxomycete assemblages has been historically associated with temperate rather than tropical communities. Comments on the geographical distribution and ecology of the species are included. This record has increased the number of Costa Rican myxomycetes to 213 according to the most updated checklist.Key words: biogeography, Mesoamerica, myxogastrids, Neotropics, slime moldsThe myxomycete genus Colloderma was described by Gulielma Lister in 1910(Lister 1910) based on specimens from Scotland and the original description of Didymium oculatum C. Lippert, from Austria. Lister (1910) recognized that those specimens did not belong into the Physaraceae and created the new genus with the combination of the species Colloderma oculatum (Lippert) G. Lister. In her description, Lister emphasized the eyelike appearance of the moist and unbroken sporangia, which inspired Lippert to use the term "oculatum" in order to describe the original specimens. In the third edition of "A monograph of the Mycetozoa" (Lister 1925) the genus Colloderma was included under the new family Collodermaceae, based on the outer gelatinous layer, but Nannenga-Bremekamp (1967) stated that an outer gelatinous wall occurs in other genera of myxomycetes, and by the structure of the capillitium, very close to Dia-

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