Orchid diversity and distribution pattern in karst forests in eastern Yunnan Province,China

Global biodiversity loss and mass extinction of species have raised serious global concerns,especially in fragile ecosystems.Karst forest,a well-known fragile ecosystem,is served as a natural laboratory for biogeographical,ecological,evolutionary,and taxonomic research.However,species richness and distribution patterns in karst forests largely remain unclear.Orchidaceae has been regarded as the“flagship”group of plant diversity.In this study,we use Wanfengshan Nature Reserve in southeast Yunnan,China,as a model to determine the conservation status of orchids in the karst forest by conducting systematic field surveys in the past three years from 2019 to 2022.In total,we identified 78 orchid species in 35 genera in Wanfengshan Nature Reserve.The dominant species were Bulbophyllum andersonii,Eria coronaria,Nervilia mackinnonii and Paphiopedilum micranthum.Multiple life forms were also observed,including epiphyte(14.29%),facultative epiphyte(18.18%),lithophyte(23.38%),and terrestrial(44.15%).Orchid species richness showed a bimodal pattern varied with altitude,the higher richness was recorded at 1,500-1,600 and 1,200-1,300 m,while the minimum was below 1,100 m.Each independent hill is rich in orchid species including‘endemic’species.A total of 25(33.8%)orchid species were considered threatened by the Redlist of Chinese Vascular Plants(Qin et al.,2017),including 3 CR species,5 EN species and 17 VU species.We call for more research addressing the mechanisms of ecological adaption,mycorrhizal interactions,and pollination of orchids in karst forests,and effective ways for recovery and conservation of orchids.

Orchid conservation in China from 2000 to 2020:Achievements and perspectives

We review achievements in the conservation of orchid diversity in China over the last 21 years.We provide updated information on orchid biodiversity and suggestions for orchid conservation in China.We outline national policies of biodiversity conservation,especially of orchid conservation,which provide general guidelines for orchid conservation in China.There are now approximately 1708 known species of Orchidaceae in 181 genera in China,including five new genera and 365 new species described over the last 21 years.The assessment of risk of extinction of all 1502 known native orchid species in China in 2013 indicated that 653 species were identified as threatened,132 species were treated as data-deficient,and four species endemic to China were classified as extinct.Approximately 1100 species(ca.65%)are protected in national nature reserves,and another~66 species in provincial nature reserves.About 800 native orchid species have living collections in major botanical gardens.The pollination biology of 74 native orchid species and the genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure of 29 orchid species have been investigated at a local scale and/or across species distributions.The mycorrhizal fungal community composition has been investigated in many genera,such as Bletilla,Coelogyne,Cymbidium,Cypripedium,and Dendrobium.Approximately 292 species will be included in the list of national key protected wild plants this year.Two major tasks for near future include in situ conservation and monitoring population dynamics of endangered species.