Carlos Rojas

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Verified

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• Professor
• Researcher at University of Costa Rica

Al iniciar un proceso de análisis de los registros de hongos en Costa Rica, nos sorprendimos de ver el alto porcentaje de recolectas en dos sitios al sur del país. En esta pequeña nota resumimos esos datos y los colocamos en el contexto de la investigación micológica, temporal y espacial, de las zonas aludidas. Este tipo de prácticas son relevantes...

El presente estudio evaluó el crecimiento de Pleurotus ostreatus en diferentes substratos con miras a la búsqueda de usos de los subproductos de la actividad agrícola para la producción de materiales biológicos para su uso en aplicaciones ingenieriles. Una vez determinados los mejores substratos, se construyeron dos materiales ligeramente diferente...

The conservation of fungi is an integral part of ecosystem conservation. The Mushroom Research Centre’s strategic approach to fungal conservation offers valuable insights. Located in northern Thailand, this institution has emerged as a research and training hub for mycologists across Asia, providing them with practical knowledge and skills. Its inf...

Between 2009 and 2011, we came to Costa Rica as part of an educational program established in the country intended to give American students an opportunity to learn about sustainability in the tropics. We were given the task to coordinate three teams of students and carry out, in only one week each time, a quick field project focused on documenting...

Resumen: La biosorción trata de absorber o remover contaminantes presentes en aire, suelo o agua mediante la utilización de biomasa viva o muerta. En este proyecto se construyeron bloques de heno conglomerados con hifas del hongo Pleurotus ostreatus con el fin de caracterizar el proceso constructivo y de proponer una alternativa biológica para la g...

A survey of myxomycetes was carried out during 2022 in the Monte Alto Protected Zone in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Eighty samples of ground litter were collected from the premises around the headquaters and studied with the moist chamber technique. The resulting dataset was compared with an equivalent set from the Caribbean side of the country obtaine...

Mucho se habla de los cambios climáticos producto de fenómenos atmosféricos de orden regional y global; sin embargo, no siempre se cuenta con evidencia relacionada con ellos. Esta comprobación científica es necesaria para visualizar la dimensión de su efecto y para sentar las bases de manejo y conservación de los servicios ecosistémicos que sustent...

Moist chamber cultures are valuable for myxomycete research and can be used for the analysis of ecological patterns with implications in ecosystem conservation programs. However, to make comparisons between datasets valid, the method should be redesigned considering potential biases affecting the generation of results. In the present study, both th...

Myxomycete-bryophyte associations have been studied mostly in temperate regions of the world. Data from tropical regions are much more limited. The interesting landscape configuration of the San Ramón area in Costa Rica, within the context of the Sierra de Tilarán, allowed an investigation of this ecological association. Results from the present st...

Los estudios de mixomicetes en ecosistemas de manglar no son comunes; principalmente se han llevado a cabo en Brasil. En esta investigación, se realizó el primer muestreo de mixomicetes asociados a dos especies de plantas de manglar en El Salvador, y por extensión, en Centroamérica. Para ello, se recolectó material vegetal en descomposición en el c...

Colombia is located in one the megadiverse regions of the world. However, the number of known species of myxomycetes for this territory is low when compared to similar countries in the same region. The most important reason for such pattern is the systematic undersampling of ecosystems in that part of the world. For that reason, efforts to document...

During the period between 2010 and 2014 a series of surveys conducted to explore the influence of the forest edge on myxomycete communities have been carried out in different parts of the world. This is important to understand the ecology of a group of organisms that is present in practically all terrestrial ecosystems across the planet. The idea b...

During two complete years, myxomycete fruiting bodies were looked for in field conditions on a monthly basis in selected locations within a 28-hectare moist premontane tropical forest patch in Costa Rica. A total of 58 species has been recorded thus far. Hemitrichia calyculata was the only species recorded in every single month of sampling. Arcyria...

During the last decade there has been an increase in the number of known myxomycetes for the Central American region in a rate that has not been observed earlier in history. Such result is the product of an effort to survey this underexplored area of the Americas through a number of regional research projects. Those investigations have been primari...

Myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds) often occur on substrates with bryophytes present, but few studies have considered the bryophytes themselves as substrates. The objective of the present study was to examine the myxomycetes associated with samples of bryophytes collected in several different regions in North and Central America.

During the last decade, ecological studies of myxomycetes have provided researchers around the world with a more complete understanding of the biology of this group of organisms Among the tropical areas in the world, Costa Rica has played a key role in the efforts that have yielded the body of biogeographical and ecological information that is curr...

The mycetozoan genus Ceratiomyxa seems to have a cosmopolitan distribution; however, two of the species within the genus have only been reported for tropical areas. In theory, these two tropical species could show narrower niches than their cosmopolitan counterparts due to their specialization for tropical environments. However, scant ecological da...

An examination of patterns of occurrence of myxomycetes in Costa Rica was carried out based on available information in 2008.

Fungi play an important role in the decomposition of the coarse woody debris that accumulates in forest ecosystems They are among the only organisms able to decompose lignin, a complex polymer found in wood By decomposing wood in forest ecosystems, fungi keep excess wood from accumulating and allow nutrients to be released and recycled into the eco...

Current knowledge of myxomycete distribution seems to indicate that most species are not cosmopolitan, as has been proposed to be the case for microscopic organisms. Results from several previous studies have shown that most species seem to have distribution patterns that are associated with either biotic, abiotic or both factors at the same time....

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The maximum growth was obtained on 1.6% bark infusion agar, from which approximately 1 g of fresh weight per culture was recovered. The optimum media conditions were bark infusion agar at 26°C without nutritional supplement and with 0.1 g of oat meal flakes added to the medium (Fig. 1-Fig. 6). The use of other media resulted...

Samples of soil/humus for isolation of dictyostelid cellular slime molds were collected at four localities in northern and one locality in southern Thailand during early 2008. These samples yielded at least 15 different taxa, including such common and widespread species as Dictyostelium giganteum B.N. Singh, D. mucoroides Bref., D. purpureum Olive,...

Myxomycete sporocarps are practical units that can be used to study the effect of environmental issues such as climate change, urbanization, and natural disasters on microorganisms. Recent scientific literature lacks empirical approaches to understand the impacts of sampling design and site selection on the data obtained in myxomycete field surveys...

This chapter serves to illustrate the integrative transdisciplinary potential that myxomycetes have in fields of knowledge other than biology. From STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines such as engineering, biotechnology, environmental chemistry, and computer science to nonscientific fields such as arts, communication,...

The geography of the northeasternmost section of Costa Rica corresponds to river islands sparsely populated and highly protected for biological conservation. Myxomycetes had not been studied in that part of such Central American country and the present rapid assessment project (RAP) represents the first attempt to do so. By studying moist chambers...

The moist chamber technique is widely used in ecological research on myxomycetes. However, limited assessments on the usefulness of the technique have been carried out using empirical data. In the present study, three discrete experiments were carried out in a tropical forest in Costa Rica with the main objective of providing meaningful parameters...

Most of the species of myxomycetes from Mexico are well documented, but their patchy geographical and temporal distribution responds to the individual efforts carried out in different areas of the territory over time. As such, even for well-studied areas, new projects can substantially increase biodiversity-based information. The present study cons...

School gardens are important for the conceptual integration of topics such as climate change. Using a biofertilization experiment in a school garden, we evaluated four experimental treatments and the student knowledge to some sustainable practices. Solid biofertilization was more effective than liquid treatments. The effect of the garden establishm...

We investigated the ecological aspects of the myxobiota associated with both the mesophilic and gallery forests from a fragment of the Cerrado biome located in the municipality of Anápolis, Goiás, Brazil. Myxomycete assemblages were sampled in pre-established plots and compared using basic ecological calculations (α and β diversity, richness, abund...

Long-term monitoring and phenological patterns of microbial communities are rare in the scientific literature. Myxomycetes have life cycle characteristics that allow both to be documented. The present study summarizes the integrated floristic and bioclimatic components of a 30-month assessment of myxomycete sporocarps in a premontane tropical fores...

Background and aims – In late November and early December of 2016, forest wildfires occurred over portions of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (USA) and more than 4 000 ha were affected. Previous studies have shown that myxomycete assemblages can be greatly impacted as a result of this type of disturbance; after which, the recovery of the fo...

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...

Se ha publicado el nuevo número de Uniciencia correspondiente a enero de 2021. Agradecemos a los autores y lectores por compartir esta información. ||| The new issue of Uniciencia corresponding to January 2021 has been released. We thank the authors and readers for sharing this information.

This study is a reassessment of the Usnea cornuta aggregate diversity mainly in Brazil. Based on previous multi-locus species delimitation analyses using the multispecies coalescent model (MSC), we carried out a posteriori morphological and anatomical studies. The following corticolous new species are described: Usnea arianae with norstictic or fat...

Datasets from boreal (Denali National Park, United States), temperate (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, United States) and tropical (La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica) regions of North America were subjected to analysis. The complete dataset, composed primarily of field data, consisted of 3558 records, with 46% temperate, 29% boreal and 2...

Myxomycetes (Amoebozoa) can be found on a wide range of substrates and among these, the dung of several animal species, primarily herbivorous, in which case they are considered fimicolous. Dung can be a favourable substrate for myxomycete due its relatively high content of water, nutrients and microorganisms. Despite efforts to study fimicolous myx...

Corticolous myxomycetes associated with four species of pine in different regions of theworld were investigated. Samples of bark collected from 20 trees in each region were used to prepare240 moist chamber cultures, which yielded 620 records of myxomycetes representing 34 speciesin 14 genera. Bark samples from shortleaf pine were the most productiv...

A total of 68 315 digitised records of myxomycetes from the eastern United States were compiled from all readily available sources. After cleaning the database for inconsistencies, 58 594 records remained that were suitable for analysis. A total of 460 different species of myxomycetes were recorded, out of which 410 were classified as rare. Five sp...

La gestión del suelo es primaria en el contexto de adaptación al cambio climático. Sin embargo, para poder determinar su manejo, uso y conservación, se requiere de información primaria que ofrezca los insumos necesarios para la toma de decisiones. Este proyecto respondió a la poca documentación base en la sección forestal de la Finca Experimental I...

El seguimiento de las características del bosque es relevante en el contexto de cambio climático. En este estudio, se ha evaluado la estructura vertical y horizontal, así como las reservas de carbono de un parche boscoso de 28 ha en sucesión temprana en el Caribe de Costa Rica. Esta evaluación se ha hecho con base en el uso de la tierra y en una hi...

Introduction: Integrated efforts for the management and conservation of natural resources require the availability of socio-cultural information. However, perceptional studies are rarely used along with biological data to design methodologies of biodiversity conservation. Objective: To explore the potential of perceptional information on fungi as a...

Costa Rica is a small country in Central America with a recent history of fungal research. However, comparativedifferences with other territories in the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot region have promoted the study of fungi and the integration of fungal information with natural resource management. Even though there is still a large number of u...

Utila es una isla ubicada en el norte de Honduras, presenta diferentes tipos de biosistemas característico de zonas tropicales por lo que se esperaría una alta diversidad de especies. Existe un grupo de microorganismos, poco estudiado en islas, conocido como myxomycetes, microorganismos eucariotas que forman parte del grupo Amebozoa y tienen la cap...

La integración entre información biológica y datos sobre la percepción ciudadana de los recursos naturales es clave para construir iniciativas de conservación biológica sensibles a las diferencias socioculturales. En este estudio se analizó la percepción hacia los recursos fúngicos de participantes en 11 ciudades de Costa Rica y se investigaron las...

RESUMEN Antecedentes: La integración entre información biológica y datos sobre la percepción ciudadana de los recursos natura-les es clave para construir iniciativas de conservación biológica sensibles a las diferencias socioculturales. Objetivos: Documentar las diferencias en la percepción sobre los recursos micológicos en la población general de...

Utila es una isla ubicada en el norte de Honduras, presenta diferentes tipos de biosistemas característico de zonas tropicales por lo que se esperaría una alta diversidad de especies. Existe un grupo de microorganismos, poco estudiado en islas, conocido como myxomycetes, microorganismos eucariotas que forman parte del grupo Amebozoa y tienen la cap...

The most active research period on myxomycetes in Costa Rica has taken place in the last three decades. During this time, most of the collections have been carried out and most of the scientific articles have been produced. However, the lack of standard protocols and systematic planning across the country generated a need to conduct an analysis of...

During field surveys of myxomycetes in Central America, 2 previously unrecorded genera and 4 species, viz. Craterium muscorum Ing, Dictydiaethalium dictyosporum Nann.-Bremek., Physarina echinocephala Höhn, and Stemonaria rufipes , were identified. Some of these are new for the Neotropics. These noteworthy range extensions of these species to the Me...

An updated analysis of myxomycete diversity in Costa Rica is provided herein as a product of an extensive data mining-based study intended to normalize the information on myxomycetes from that country. Within the context of the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot, the 242 species of myxomycetes are reported herein demonstrated the potential of this a...

El estudio de las poblaciones de micetozoos en agroecosistemas con diversas características y grados de disturbio por actividades antropogénicas es un tema con escasa investigación en el nivel mundial. Con el objeto de estudiar esta interacción, nosotros documentamos la incidencia de dos grupos de micetozoos (mixogástridos y dictiostélidos) en dos...

Besides the need to reduce its own emissions, the challenge of the agricultural sector worldwide is also to adapt to a changing and more variable climate. Coffee is an important crop in Costa Rica based on cultivated area and the number of families connected to this activity that has a long historical tradition. In this context, the potential distr...

Two experiments employing a modified version of the standard “Cavender Method” were used to evaluate the incidence patterns of myxomycete and dictyostelids associated with different soils collected across north and central America. The soils were subjected to variable culturing conditions and parameters including plant material quality, agar type a...

A series of functional variables, including biomass and hymenial area, were obtained for more than 4800 individual macrofungal sporocarps and correlated with a set of ecological parameters characterizing soil, climate and forest structure in four different forest types of Costa Rica. The idea behind this project was to document macrofungi over a th...

Disponible en: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/ingenieria/article/view/26444 El análisis aplicado del cambio climático sobre actividades humanas ha cobrado relevancia en los últimos años. Su efecto sobre los sectores agrícolas en países en desarrollo es importante para delinear estrategias de adaptación futura. En este trabajo se han evaluado...

Several advancements in the study of myxomycetes have been made during the past few decades. In particular, the development of modern protocols to obtain information about their phylogeny, taxonomic status, and genetics are leading the way. However, integrated research that considers transversal elements in the fields of conservation, management, s...

Myxomycetes: Biology, Systematics, Biogeography, and Ecology is a comprehensive overview of the body of accumulated knowledge that now exists on myxomycetes. Its broad scope takes an integrated approach to the knowledge of this organismal group, considering a number of important aspects of their genetics and molecular phylogeny. It also treats myxo...

El uso de microorganismos en aplicaciones ingenieriles, en particular desde un contexto de ingeniería de biosistemas tropicales, es útil para comprender el efecto de variables que determinan la dinámica microbiológica del suelo. Hemos enmarcado y diseñado el presente estudio dentro de esos esfuerzos para documentar el potencial de microorganismos d...

Several studies on myxomycetes in Central America during the last decade have greatly increased the information on the morphological species present in the different countries of that region. Herein we present a list of 71 new records compiled for four different countries in Central America including 37, 23, 19 and 9 unreported species for Panama,...

Myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds, Amoebozoa) are often perceived as widely distributed, confounding to the “everything is everywhere” hypothesis. To test if gene flow within these spore-dispersed protists is restricted by geographical barriers, we chose the widespread but morphologically unmistakable species Hemitrichia serpula for a phylogeogra...

(Microsoft Excel 2010). Database including collection number, geographic coordinates, SSU ribotype (for all 135 specimens), EF1A genotype (for 30 selected specimens), and morphotype for the investigated accessions of Hemitrichia serpula. (XLS)

(fasta file). Alignment of partial SSU sequences for 135 specimens (making 138 sequences with three specimens being heterogeneous for SSU) used in this study. (FAS)

(fasta file). Alignment of partial EF1A sequences of 30 specimens (30 sequences) used in this study. Specimen sc28067 shows a heterozygous sequence and is therefore listed twice. (FAS)

The study described herein was conducted in Costa Rica in an effort to generate baseline data on the association between tropical inflorescences and a group of microorganisms known as myxomycetes. The assemblage structure of myxomycetes was tested in three canopy cover classes between two independent study areas subject to different management stra...

In order to test the hypothesis that elevation may be an important factor accounting for the distribution of myxomycetes in tropical forests, this project was designed and conducted in Costa Rica. Two lower elevational belts were selected for this work due to their floristic and structural resemblance. Using the moist chamber technique, 40 differen...

This book demonstrates the social, historical, and environmental framework within which humans have developed a relationship with the forest and its resources. Starting from the biological basis that permits the existence of forests to the use of forest resources in a modern human context, this book summarizes the interaction between humans and for...

The most recent checklist of myxomycetes from Costa Rica reported 208 species for the country. Informational gaps detected in that work and a sustained survey effort since the publication of the checklist increased the number of species to 218. In the study reported herein, we identified seven species not previously known from Costa Rica. In additi...

Abstract: A compilation of all species of myxomycetes recorded from the La Selva Biological Station was carried out with the objective of summarizing and then analysing the most complete dataset from a single locality in Costa Rica. These data indicated that 85 species have been recorded from La Selva between 1963 and 2012. This result arbitrarily...

En este artículo introducimos el concepto de biosistema forestal como un elemento integrador para el análisis del desarrollo en el marco del cambio climático. En particular analizamos el papel relevante que cumplen los biosistemas forestales para la adaptación y mitigación a la variabilidad y el cambio climático, y su potencial para el desarrollo i...

This study was designed in order to compensate for the poor availability of information about the human-fungi interaction in Central America. We surveyed two “educated” groups of people in higher institutions within urban settings in the capitals of Costa Rica and Honduras to test the hypothesis that fungal knowledge could have an association with...

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...

Lignicolous myxomycetes comprise an ecological guild that has been extensively studied in temperate areas. However, there is still incomplete information about the group for the tropics. Myxomycete assemblages associated with bark and wood from two different tropical life zones and two different forest stages were studied using a combination of bas...

This is a short paper examining the potential of ecological niche modeling on myxomycetes

English: The integrated study of biological systems associated with carbon sequestration and fixation has not traditionally been a priority in the determination of protocols of carbon quantification. This case of scientific reductionism has not permitted an adequate understanding of the weight of biological interactions on the global carbon cycle....

The effect of habitat loss on the dynamics of myxomycete assemblages has been poorly studied thus far. For this reason, a premontane moist forest surrounded by human-created pastures on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica was selected to carry out a pilot ecological evaluation using a systematic approach. In the area of study, a series of forest zone...

Based on morphological investigations and a phylogeny constructed with partial sequences of the SSU rDNA gene, we revalidate the genus Alwisia and propose the combination Alwisia bombarda Berk. & Broome to be used against Tubifera bombarda (Berk. & Broome) G.W. Martin. Two new species, Alwisia morula and A. repens, are described based on material c...

Given the fact that until recently the myxomycetes were an understudied group in Central America, it is not surprising that the number of new records for most countries is currently increasing at a steady pace. This is significant in light of the fact that Central America is located within the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot and is projected to l...

There are few published studies providing information about macrofungal biology in a context of forest dynamics in tropical areas. For this study, a characterization of above-ground standing tree biomass and carbon stocks was performed for four different forest subtypes within two life zones in Costa Rica. Fungal productivity and reproductive succe...

As it is the case of most disciplines, biological groups and regions in the world; the historical path of research on myxomycetes in the Neotropical region has been written on the basis of a series of milestones, iconic researchers and emblematic pieces of work. In this short review, a highlight-based version of such history is provided by focusing...

Myxomycetes have been studied formally in most of Central America except for El Salvador. Even though this country is the last in the region to begin an official inventory for this group of organisms, the 37 new records reported herein suggest that the myxobiota of El Salvador can be valuable for biogeographical analyses. As an example, this study...

The distribution of fruit bodies of myxomycetes under different ecological conditions at the Los Amigos Biological Station in southeastern Peru was studied. Six study areas were surveyed using a combined field-laboratory methodology under different climatic conditions. Sixty species were recorded and differences in fruit body abundance and structur...

Twelve new records of myxomycetes are reported for Colombia. These additions increase the number of myxomycetes known from this country to 108 species. Since the Colombian territory is part of a biodiversity-rich region in the heart of the Neotropics, the present effort may be considered as a minor contribution. However, due to scarcity of myxomyce...

This study represented an effort to apply some of the relatively well-known biogeographical and macroecological models to the observed structure of myxomycete assemblages, with emphasis on the northern Neotropical region. A series of 28 experimental plots located in 14 study sites within five different countries was surveyed during two consecutive...

Although the effects of microenvironmental factors on distribution patterns in myxomycetes have been investigated, studies of the responses of this group of organisms to different regimes of forest disturbance are relatively few in number. In an effort to understand the implications of forest fragmentation and habitat loss on myxomycetes, the proje...

To study the trypanocidal, antibacterial, antifungal activity and cytotoxicity of myxomycetes, a rapid assessment focused on the species Physarella oblonga was carried out. Optimum conditions for culturing were utilized to develop a protocol that was adequate for bioanalysis of chemical compounds. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrosc...

A number of recent studies have been directed towards developing a more complete understanding of myxomycete ecology throughout the world. However, the lack of comparative data obtained using standard methodologies makes the results of these studies somewhat speculative. The objective of this investigation was to examine the evidence of macroecolog...

Illustration of the non-significant relation between soil richness (as the correlation between total exchange capacity and organic matter) and species richness (numerical values associated with points) in the study areas