Myxomycete biodiversity on remote islands of the eastern Indian Ocean: A comparison between the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands

Myxomycetes are a widespread group of organisms, but given their inconspicuousness and the specialist knowledge needed to culture and identify them, there are many regions of the world where they have never been studied. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian Territory in the Indian Ocean, are one such location. We collected substrates from islands in the Cocos archipelago, and cultured 37 morphospecies of myxomycete representing 15 genera. Five substrate types were sampled; the greatest species richness was associated with aerial litter, aerial twigs, and ground litter. Eight habitat types were sampled, of which the coconut forest had the greatest species richness. The main (southern) atoll of the Cocos group is dominated by (largely) anthropogenic coconut (Cocos nucifera) forest. Here, there was no relationship between myxomycete community structure and habitat, but substrate type significantly influenced community structure. In contrast, on the northern atoll of Pulu Keeling, whi..., , # Data from: Myxomycete biodiversity on remote islands of the eastern Indian Ocean: A comparison between the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttzp](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.905qfttzp)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains the species occurrence data and analytical code for the manuscript \"Myxomycete biodiversity on remote islands of the eastern Indian Ocean: A comparison between the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas islands\" (Biotropica, Manuscript ID: BITR-25-021).

The data and analyses are presented in two parts. The first part describes the myxomycete biodiversity of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, based on new collections. The second part compares these new data with a previously published dataset from nearby Christmas Island.

All data files and the R script are provided in a single directory, intended for use within the R project 'cocos.Rproj'.

**Part 1: Cocos (Keeling) Islands Data**

These files contain th...,