[PCA] Fw: Fungi-Filled Forests are Critical if Endangered Orchids are to Thrive

Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Tue Jul 3 07:46:58 CDT 2012


Sharing an article that my colleague made me aware of...

Citation:
McCORMICK, M. K., LEE TAYLOR, D., JUHASZOVA, K., BURNETT, R. K., WHIGHAM, 
D. F. and O?NEILL, J. P. (2012), Limitations on orchid recruitment: not a 
simple picture. Molecular Ecology, 21: 1511?1523. 
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05468.x

See the abstract below and for the full article, try this link or search 
the title in your web browser:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05468.x/abstract

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife 
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants. 

<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>

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----- Forwarded by Patricia De Angelis/ARL/R9/FWS/DOI on 07/03/2012 08:35 
AM -----

Patricia L Ford/ARL/R9/FWS/DOI 
07/02/2012 10:19 AM





Subject
Fungi-Filled Forests are Critical if Endangered Orchids are to Thrive









Fungi-Filled Forests are Critical if Endangered Orchids are to Thrive

When it comes to conserving the world's orchids, not all forests are 
equal. In a paper published in the journal Molecular Ecology, Smithsonian 
ecologists reveal that an orchid's fate hinges on two factors: a forest's 
age and its fungi.
Roughly 10 percent of all plant species are orchids, making them the 
largest plant family on Earth. But habitat loss has rendered many 
threatened or endangered. This is partly due to their intimate 
relationship with the soil. Orchids depend entirely on microscopic fungi 
in the early stages of their lives. Without the nutrients orchids obtain 
by digesting these host fungi, their seeds often will not germinate and 
orchid seedlings will not grow. While researchers have known about the 
orchid-fungus relationship for years, very little is known about what the 
fungi need to survive.
Biologists based at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in 
Edgewater, Maryland, launched the first study to find out what helps the 
fungi flourish and what that means for orchids. Led by Melissa McCormick, 
the researchers looked at three orchid species, all endangered in one or 
more U.S. states. After planting orchid seeds in dozens of experimental 
plots, they also added particular host fungi needed by each orchid to half 
of the plots. Then they followed the fate of the orchids and fungi in six 
study sites: three in younger forests (50 to 70 years old) and three in 
older forests (120 to 150 years old).
After four years they discovered orchid seeds germinated only where the 
fungi they needed were abundant?not merely present. In the case of one 
species, Liparis liliifolia (lily-leaved twayblade), seeds germinated only 
in plots where the team had added fungi. This suggests that this 
particular orchid could survive in many places, but the fungi they need do 
not exist in most areas of the forest.
Meanwhile, the fungi displayed a strong preference for older forests. Soil 
samples taken from older forest plots had host fungi that were five to 12 
times more abundant compared to younger forests, even where the research 
team had not added them. They were more diverse as well. More mature plots 
averaged 3.6 different Tulasnella fungi species per soil sample (a group 
of fungi beneficial to these orchids), while the younger ones averaged 
only 1.3. Host fungi were also more abundant in plots where rotting wood 
was added. These host fungi, which are primarily decomposers, may grow 
better in places where decomposing wood or leaves are plentiful.
All this implies that to save endangered orchids, planting new forests may 
not be enough. If the forests are not old enough or do not have enough of 
the right fungi, lost orchids may take decades to return, if they return 
at all.
"This study, for the first time, ties orchid performance firmly to the 
abundance of their fungi," McCormick says. "It reveals the way to 
determine what conditions host fungi need, so we can support recovery of 
the fungi needed by threatened and endangered orchids."







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