[PCA] Discovering the hidden pollinators of Platanthera

[Krupnick, Gary]

A massive community science project using interval photography to capture rare and unknown pollinator relationships across North America has been launched by scientists at Texas A&U University, with guidance from the North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC), Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and the New York Botanical Garden. The goal of the project is to discover and more deeply understand the evolutionary history and trajectory of one of the most speciose groups on North American orchids, Platanthera. The key to unlocking its secrets lies in part in finding its pollinators.


As it stands, little is known about pollinator relationships in North American orchids, and Platanthera is no exception. Of the approximately 200 species of North American orchids, just over 100 have published records of pollination. Discoveries of orchid pollinators are important: most flowering plants need pollinators. Pollinators mediate reproduction, gene flow, dispersal, and in some cases even speciation.


In order to understand how the members of Platanthera evolved and diversified in North America, orchid scientists must come to know their pollinators. With this information, researchers will not only be able to unravel how they came to be, but will also be able to predict where they might be now and how they might adjust to climatic and geographic changes in the future.


This project needs your help. We are asking the dedicated and passionate orchid, pollinator, and naturalist communities to go out and document their observations. A strategy for pollinator observation has been devised using interval photography and everyday digital cameras, in the hopes that with enough participants around the continent, even the most elusive relationships can be captured. The pilot study will hopefully be launched this field season. If you are interested in participating, feel free to reach out directly or visit the project website for more information. Contact Lydia Morley at Lydia.morley at tamu.edu<mailto:Lydia.morley at tamu.edu>, or visit the project website at https://platantherapollinators.wordpress.com/<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplatantherapollinators.wordpress.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7CKRUPNICK%40si.edu%7C892d05272dec4e61cf9808d8bca07328%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637466744598001963%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2F71%2FlMPyBiN3LFulU1dLkbEibyMcSuVoc%2F1N4a4bFoM%3D&reserved=0>.

Thank you,
Gary Krupnick


Gary Krupnick, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

Head of the Plant Conservation Unit

Department of Botany

w 202.633.0940  krupnick at si.edu<mailto:krupnick at si.edu>



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

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